NEW DELHI: The coming together of Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar faltered on Friday as united Nationalist Congress Party suffered a massive setback in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune municipal elections.According to the latest trends, BJP has taken the lead of 74 wards in the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations — considered as one of the richest after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Meanwhile, NCP(Ajit Pawar) is ahead of 40 seats, while the NCP(Sharad Pawar) is leading in one ward.This comes despite NCP’s aggressive campaigning in the city during the run up to the elections.Meanwhile, BJP is leading in 52 wards in Pune. NCP, on the other hand, is leading in only two wards. The Congress which is ahead in five wards, is allying with the Thackeray brothers (Uddhav’s Shiv Sena and Raj’s MNS) – who are not leading in any wards.Uncle-nephew allianceBoth factions of NCP came together for the local body polls in Maharashtra. This came two years later, Ajit along with a group of senior leaders, parted ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined hands with BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.Ajit was sworn in as deputy chief minister under this new alliance. He favored aligning with the ruling coalition, while Sharad Pawar’s faction insisted on remaining with the opposition.The Election Commission later recognized Ajit’s faction as the legitimate NCP, retaining the ‘clock’ symbol. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar’s faction (NCP-SP) adopted the ‘tutari’ (curved trumpet) symbol. Both factions contested elections separately. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where his faction faced setbacks, Ajit Pawar acknowledged that turning his back on family had been a “mistake”.NCP merger in limbo?During the elections campaign, speculations were rife that both the factions of NCP were heading towards a merger. Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule hinted at a reunion in the future.While speaking to news agency IANS, Sule had said that a decision about the merger could be taken in the future.“Our alliance is formed for the Pune Municipal Corporation elections. We will see about it in the future,” Sule said.However, after the lackluster performance in the local body polls, it would be interesting to see if both the factions would still see merit in coming together.
