Speculations of a merger of the two rival camps of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have reignited after NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar shared the stage with his estranged nephew Ajit Pawar for a second time in four days.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar shared the stage with his nephew Ajit, who is the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, during an event in Mumbai.
The Mumbai event comes after the two leaders were seen together at a programme organised by the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha in Satara on Friday.
The NCP founded by Sharad Pawar split in July 2023 when Ajit Pawar and MLAs in his support walked away to join the ruling Mahayuti alliance of the BJP and Shiv Sena. After the split, Ajit Pawar took 40 NCP MLAs along with him, joining the NDA camp.
The NCP claimed that rival party’s moves were primarily aimed at addressing internal dissent ahead of the local body elections, according to The Indian Express.
However, sharing a stage is not new for the leaders of the rival NCP faction, as on April 12, Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar attended a Rayat Shikshan Sanstha council meeting in Satara.
Earlier in January, Ajit Pawar's mother had called for a reunion of her son and her brother-in-law Sharad Pawar. Asha Pawar visited the holy town of Pandharpur and prayed for a reunion of her son Ajit and his uncle Sharad Pawar.
Reacting to Asha's remark, senior NCP leader Praful Patel had said that he would be happy if the Pawar family reunited, saying Sharad Pawar was "like God to us".
As per reports, 4 out of 10 MLAs of Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) faction are in favour of the reunion.
The speculations of an NCP merger emerged after the elder Pawar's camp, which was part of the opposition alliance, only managed to win 10 out of the 86 seats in the 2024 Assembly Elections.
The Mahayuti swept the polls to the 288-member assembly, with BJP bagging 132 seats, Shiv Sena getting 57 and 41 going into the kitty of the NCP. The opposition Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) of Sharad Pawar managed to win just 16, 20 and 10 seats, respectively.