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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced an alliance between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and its Sharad Pawar-led faction, the NCP (SP), marking a reunion after a bitter feud.
The announcement was made during a rally in Pimpri Chinchwad ahead of the upcoming civic elections: Elections to 29 civic corporations in Maharashtra, including Pimpri Chinchwad, will be held on January 15, and counting of votes will take place the next day.
Ajit Pawar told reporters, “While finalizing the list of candidates for the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar faction decided to contest the elections together in Pimpri Chinchwad. Because of this, the family will come together once again.”
He said, “There were many questions in the minds of people as to what will happen; sometimes some decisions have to be taken in the interest of the development of Maharashtra. I have discussed seat sharing with the leaders here and it will also be announced soon.”
The Maharashtra Deputy CM’s announcement comes a day after NCP (SP) leader Azam Pansare said that both the factions would like an alliance.
After meeting the Deputy CM on Saturday, Pansare said that both of them met after some time, he said, ‘We want an alliance. [between NCP(SP) and NCP]…He told me that a decision will be taken soon.
Teams are being formed for civic elections
The reunification has been announced two and a half years after Ajit Pawar surprised everyone in July 2023 and rebelled against his uncle to become part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance.
After the split, both factions of the NCP faced each other in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra Assembly elections in the same year.
While the senior Pawar fared better in the parliamentary elections, winning eight seats against his nephew’s eight, Ajit turned the tables in the assembly elections, winning 41 seats against the NCP (SP)’s 10 seats.
Ahead of this year’s civic corporation elections, rumors emerged about a possible Pawar reunion in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, but hopes of an alliance were dashed when news broke on Saturday that the two would contest the elections independently in Pune due to disagreement over which party symbol to contest under.
Reportedly, for the Pune elections, Ajit Pawar insisted that candidates supported by the Sharad Pawar faction contest only under the NCP’s ‘clock’ symbol. He also reportedly rejected NCP’s (SP) demand for 68 seats.
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