Pawar vs Pawar Or Pawar+Pawar? What Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule Said On Merger

Two years after the NCP split, the camps led by party founder Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar have decided to join hands for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation polls. The alliance has sparked speculation about a possible merger between the two camps, which have exchanged harsh words over the past couple of years. And leaders of both camps have not denied the possibility of coming together again.

Ajit Pawar, NCP chief and Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, and Supriya Sule, Lok Sabha MP, Sharad Pawar's daughter and Ajit Pawar's cousin, addressed a joint press conference yesterday and released a manifesto for the civic poll.

"Both NCPs have come together in Pune and PCMC and joined hands in the interest of Pimpri Chinchwad by keeping aside our differences. We have come together for development," said Ajit Pawar.

On whether a merger is possible, he said, "We have not thought about this yet. Our primary focus is on the upcoming elections. Only after the elections will we see."

Asked the same question, Sule replied, "Our alliance is for the municipal corporation elections. We will see about it (merger) in the future." Earlier, the leaders of both camps said the workers of both factions wanted them to fight together.

The NCP split in 2023 after Ajit Pawar advocated that the party align itself with the NDA and ally with the BJP. Party founder Sharad Pawar refused and said NCP must stay in the Opposition camp, along with the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT). Ajit Pawar then led a rebellion that split the party. Ajit Pawar then joined the NDA camp and became Deputy Chief Minister in the Eknath Shinde government. He also retained the NCP's name and symbol and contested the state polls last year in alliance with BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.