‘Family tensions have ended’: Ajit Pawar says both NCP factions ‘together’ now ahead of civic body polls

Days ahead of the civic body polls in Maharashtra, the state’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that workers of both the factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the one with him and the other one with this uncle Sharad Pawar, want to reunite and that the tensions within the Pawar clan have been resolved.

"The workers of both parties want to unite. The two NCPs are together now. All tensions in our family have ended," he told NDTV.

The reunion of the Pawar family comes after the Nationalist Congress Party, founded by Sharad Pawar, split in 2023 when Ajit Pawar broke away from his uncle along with other senior party members and joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), claimed the original party name and symbol and took change at the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

Earlier on Thursday as well, Ajit Pawar had signalled while talking to a local news channel that the rival NCP factions could permanently come together after the ongoing municipal elections and emphasised that in politics, there are no “permanent enemies”.

“As municipal elections are underway, we are extremely busy with alliance talks, seat-sharing, campaign planning, and the actual campaigning. There is no time to discuss these issues right now…But since both factions have come together in some places, the workers of both parties are very happy. One thing is clear—there are no permanent enemies in politics,” he said, reported Hindustan Times earlier.

Both the factions of NCP are fighting together in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad in the upcoming civic body polls, a decision which was welcomed by the workers of both the parties, Pawar said.

“Workers from both factions are happy that we are contesting together in these cities. It is a good thing. We will discuss the larger issue later, as our focus right now is on the elections,” he said.

When asked about why he himself is spending quite some time in both the cities as compared to his cousin and MP Supriya Sule, who is a member of Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction, Ajit said that the focus of leaders varies depending on the region and that Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad are his home districts and thus, he is spending maximum time there.

“Sunil Tatkare has also visited Pune, and other leaders are campaigning in their respective districts. I have been informed that Supriya Sule will be visiting the city soon for campaigning,” he said.