Maharashtra: Is a Pawar reunion on the cards? Rival camps expect clarity ahead of NCP foundation day

Mint

15 hours ago

Rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will hold separate Foundation Day gatherings in Pune on 10 June in the backdrop of a growing buzz over a reunion.
The Pawar family reunion buzz is coming at a time when speculation of rapprochement between the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and his cousin Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is also rife in Maharashtra political circles..
For now, both sides in Pawar family insisted there was no such proposal on the table despite frequent meetings between their top leaders.
A senior NCP (Ajit Pawar) MLC and close aide, Amol Mitkari, recently said, "If Pandurang has a will, the two siblings (Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule) would come together before the Ashadi Ekadashi (July 6)."
Earlierm NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar first floated the idea of reunion. "There are two views in the party. One is that we reunite with Ajit, while the other says we should not go with the BJP, directly or indirectly," the four-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra had said, according to a report in NDTV. He even added that the final decision on the reunion would be taken by his daughter, MP Supriya Sule.
However, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Jayant Patil clarified, last week, that talk about both the factions coming together was "only in the air", and there has been no discussion on a possible reunion.
'On June 10, we will celebrate the 26th year of foundation of our party. It is our Foundation Day, and there is no formal talk of a reunion between the two factions. The buzz is only in the air. But I think there is a possibility of clarity on the issue after the Foundation Day programme," he told news agency PTI
''Apart from Pawar saheb (NCP-SP president Sharad Pawar), four to five prominent office-bearers will speak at the gathering," the former minister informed.
Sharad Pawar will address workers and office-bearers of the opposition party at the function in the morning, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the ruling NCP, will participate in a Foundation Day programme of his faction the same evening in Pune.
State NCP president Sunil Tatkare also clarified there was no proposal or discussion on a merger or an alliance between the two groups.
Frequent meetings between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar at public and private events have fuelled speculations about the factions reuniting after a split in the party in July 2023.
Both NCP and NCP (SP) have chosen Pune, the home turf of the Pawar family, for their Foundation Day festivities. While Sharad Pawar will address his supporters at Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir in Shivajinagar, Ajit Pawar will speak at his party's event at Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex in Balewadi.
According to political observers, party workers are expecting clarity and future roadmaps for their respective factions from the top leadership.
In case of a reunion, the real uncertainty would, however, lie in what form the alliance would take. This because one faction led by Ajit is in power while another led by Sharad is in the opposition.
The eight MPs aligned with NCP(SP) are also being seen as a crucial factor-possibly a lever for the BJP to draw the senior Pawar's party closer, according to NDTV report.
The NCP was founded on June 10, 1999, after then-Congress leaders Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar raised the issue of party president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, leading to their expulsion.
While Sangma is no more, Anwar is back in the Congress. The NCP later joined hands with the Congress and formed a coalition government in Maharashtra, where they remained in power for three straight terms (1999-2014).
In 2019, the NCP and the Congress joined hands with the united Shiv Sena and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which collapsed in June 2022.
In 2023, Ajit Pawar, then in the opposition, walked away with a majority of NCP legislators, and joined the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena combine and became a deputy chief minister.
After the 2024 assembly polls, the BJP-led Mahayuti retained power with a thumping majority, and Ajit Pawar joined the cabinet of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as his second deputy.
With the delayed local body polls likely to be held later this year, much is at stake for the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which received a massive victory in the assembly polls, and the opposition MVA, which suffered a severe drubbing in November last year.
If Pandurang has a will, the two siblings (Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule) would come together before the Ashadi Ekadashi (July 6).
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the NCP (SP) performed well in Maharashtra, winning eight of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested. On the other hand, the ruling coalition partner NCP bagged just one seat.
In the assembly polls held six months later, there was a reversal in poll fortunes, with the NCP winning 41 seats and the NCP (SP) just 10 in the 288-member assembly.