July 2023 was a shock for the Pawar family, one of the most famous families of Maharashtra. The family got divided. Nephew Ajit Pawar, whose nephew Ajit Pawar had come into politics by holding the finger of uncle Sharad Pawar, who was the political heir of Sharad Pawar, broke the party and joined hands with NDA, the arch rival faction of the Nationalist Congress Party. The family left, the party disintegrated and so did the relationships.
Now, about two and a half years after the split of NCP, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP and his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) have formed an alliance for the municipal elections of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Both these places are considered traditional strong seats of NCP.
Both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party have definitely said that the alliance is limited only to these two municipal elections to be held on January 15, 2026. There are no plans beyond this. In Pune, Ajit Pawar’s NCP will contest on 125 seats and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) on 40 seats. Both will field candidates on their respective election symbols only.
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Why did the alliance have to be made?
There is a direct contest between BJP and NCP within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. BJP has decided to contest the elections alone in Pune, while Ajit Pawar’s NCP was left alone. BJP wants to strengthen its hold in the entire state. BJP does not want to lose an area like Pune. In such a situation, the parties of both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar believe that it is necessary to unite to stop the expansion of BJP.
NCP workers are emotionally attached to both the Pawar family and wanted to avoid vote division. Sharad Pawar’s party was facing continuous defeats, so this alliance is a relief for him also. The troubled relationship between Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule is also being resolved on this pretext.
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What will happen by coming together with NCP?
A united NCP will now become a strong challenge to the BJP. Both the parties are hoping that their local leaders will no longer join BJP. Recently, some leaders of Sharad Pawar faction had joined BJP, due to which they were facing difficulty in finding candidates.
Will both the parties merge?
There is discussion in political circles that this can happen. The ideology of both the factions of the Nationalist Congress Party is the same. Ajit Pawar has been considering his uncle Sharad Pawar as his political role model. It is being said that now it is possible that merger may also happen. Ajit Pawar should take charge of the state, Supriya Sule at the centre. But this is still speculation.
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What is the future of NCP?
Many leaders and workers are hoping that NCP can unite. Sharad Pawar faction MLA Rohit Pawar clearly said that this is only up to these two municipal corporations and this has happened as per the wish of the local workers. There are huge hurdles to merger. The biggest obstacle to merger is the leadership of the party. Supriya Sule is the daughter of Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar is the Deputy CM of Maharashtra. His political stature in Maharashtra has increased rapidly after being a part of Mahayuti. The old division was also caused by the leadership crisis. The dispute between Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar had spoiled things.
Why are people not expecting much?
Strange alliances are often seen at the local level in municipal elections. If this alliance performs well in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, then such a demand may be raised in the future Zilla Parishad elections also. But right now everyone’s eyes are on the results of these elections. Interestingly, in the Maharashtra civic elections, at many places BJP and Congress contested together, at many places Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP contested together. It would be meaningless to have expectations from national and state level electoral equations in terms of local equations.
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