From bitter split to big reunion! Pawars join hands again for high-stakes civic battle

Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced the much-anticipated alliance between his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) for the civic elections.

The NCP was split in 2023 after Ajit Pawar aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), triggering a political battle over the party symbol.

Speculation about a reunion gathered pace after the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance returned to power in Maharashtra last year with a landslide victory.

Reacting to the reunion, the BJP expressed hope that Sharad Pawar, a former Maharashtra chief minister, would join the ruling camp soon.

BJP leader Navneet Rana said as quoted by NDTV, "Ajit Pawar joined the BJP on Sharad Pawar's orders. I also said earlier that Ajit Pawar always follows Sharad Pawar's directions.

"It's nothing new for us that they are reuniting, as we knew that Ajit Pawar joined the NDA alliance after receiving directions from Sharad Pawar. We are happy that they are uniting. I hope Sharad Pawar will also join the NDA alliance soon."

NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Zeeshan Siddique welcomed the development and said, as reported by the broadcaster, "It is a good thing if both the families come together. The party will become stronger because of this. We welcome this step. Both parties will fight strongly."

However, the Pawars failed to unite for the Pune civic polls earlier, as NCP (SP) returned to the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress for a seat-sharing arrangement.

Elections to 29 civic bodies across Maharashtra will be held on January 15, and the results will be declared the following day.