Pune:
In a show of unity and strength, cousins Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule - one is NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew, the other his daughter - are touring Maharashtra together. At a public function in Pune, Ms Sule said, "I love my brother...blood is thicker than water." Just in case anyone missed the point, she added, "There are no differences between me and Ajit
dada (brother)."
When Ajit quit as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra last week, he said that he was tired of being maligned by the opposition and activists who say that he precipitated a 70,000-crore scam during an earlier ten-year term as the state's Irrigation Minister. But sources in his party, the NCP, which is headed by Ms Sule's father, Sharad Pawar, said Ajit has been seeking a more prominent role for himself. He believed that was threatened because Ms Sule was allowed to launch a women's wing in Maharashtra, where he was working on consolidating his power.
Ajit has also been urging Mr Pawar to end the coalition with the Congress in Maharashtra, where the parties have shared power for 12 years. Ajit, sources say, believes the NCP has been playing second lead to the Congress for far too long. But his uncle has refused to entertain the prospect of a divorce.
On record, Ajit and the NCP president have denied all talk of a family feud - "there is no Pawar vs Pawar
masala" Mr Pawar told reporters last week. But all of last week, the days that followed Ajit's resignation saw the two men trying to prove their command over the rest of the party. All 19 NCP ministers in Maharashtra offered their resignation in a fawning show of solidarity with Ajit; Mr Pawar ordered them back to work