Sipu Jha
PUNE: Estranged cousins Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule came together for the first time on a political platform on Saturday to release the joint manifesto of NCP and NCP (SP) for the Pune civic polls nearly two-and-a-half years after the split in the family and party. However, both remained non-committal on a possible merger of their outfits. “Wait and watch,” said Ajit Pawar, without giving a specific answer to the issue of speculation over the parties’ merger. Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) formed an alliance for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation elections despite being on opposite sides in the state govt and at the Centre. NCP is with the governing alliance in both govts, while NCP (SP) is in the opposition. After the two NCPs forged the alliance, some workers from both sides were disappointed. Speaking on the issue, Sule said, “When any alliance is formed, some party workers get disappointed. But we will not leave them on their own. On both sides of the alliance, our focus is on workers and not on netas.” When Sule was asked about her absence in the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC) poll campaign, her cousin Ajit Pawar came to the rescue. “She told me to take the lead in the campaign as I am older to her and promised that she would follow me,” he said. The PMC will go to polls with 28 other municipal corporations in the state on Jan 15. The bonhomie between members of the two parties was visible during the release of the joint manifesto. They had trained guns on each other during the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in 2024 following the split in NCP in July 2023. Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) approached the court against Ajit Pawar’s NCP, claiming ownership of the party’s name and the “clock” symbol. Asked about speculation over the parties coming together when the case was still in court, the deputy chief minister said, “We respect the court’s order and follow it. As far as the solution to the issue is concerned, Supriya and I will sit together and find it on our own; nobody else needs to bother about it.”
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