Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule share stage, fuel NCP reunion buzz

Two years after he split the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and joined the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra-going as far as fielding his wife Sunetra Pawar against cousin Supriya Sule-Ajit Pawar and Sule shared a stage on Saturday to unveil a joint manifesto for the upcoming Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal elections.

The decision of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) to contest the civic polls together has already fuelled speculation about a possible reunion of the two factions and their eventual alignment with the BJP-led government in the state.

Both Ajit Pawar and Sule, aware of the political significance of their coming together, remained guarded when asked about the prospects of reunification. Sule said, "You can assume whatever meaning you want to," while Ajit Pawar responded, "Wait and watch."


In recent days, Ajit Pawar has said that workers from both factions favour a "reunion" and that tensions within the Pawar family have been resolved.

The developments are politically significant. When Ajit Pawar joined the BJP-led alliance, the Sharad Pawar faction opposed the move, arguing that aligning with the BJP ran contrary to the party's ideology. The decision of the two factions to fight elections together-and the renewed talk of unity-is therefore being viewed as a possible backdoor return of the NCP to the BJP-led alliance and the NDA in Maharashtra.

This would not be the NCP's first engagement with the BJP. After the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, the NCP, then in the opposition, extended outside support to the BJP, prompting the Shiv Sena to later join the BJP-led government. In 2017, the BJP and NCP also explored the possibility of an alliance, which fell through after the NCP sought a break between the BJP and the Shiv Sena.