There are some reconciliation activities within the NCP, the sources said Ajit Pawar is making all efforts to convince Sharad Pawar on alliance with BJP. Within two days, deputy CM Ajit Pawar and working president of the party’s Ajit group Praful Patel met Sharad Pawar for the second time. The venue was the same—Y B Chavan Centre at Nariman Point—and so apparently was the purpose, with Patel saying they sought his blessings and urged him to take steps to keep the party united. The back-to-back meetings between uncle and nephew created speculations about whether reconciliation was possible. According to the inner sources of Sharad Pawar, the supremo later met 16 NCP legislators who are still loyal to him.
Pawar gave ear to all his ministers and heard what all they wanted to say. “He listened to us but did not say anything on it,” senior NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters after the meeting. On the same day, Ajit attended an NDA meeting, Sharad Pawar in opposition met. At the NDA meeting scheduled to be held in Delhi on July 18, Patel said that both he and Ajit Pawar would be attending the talks. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar is expected to attend the opposition meeting that is being hosted by the Congress in Bengaluru on the same day.
The junior Pawar has claimed that he has the support of around 40 of the 53 NCP MLAs. Patel added that while only NCP ministers met the party chief on Sunday, many NCP MLAs were present during Monday’s meeting. First meeting after rebellion On Sunday, the Ajit Pawar camp had held an unscheduled meeting with senior Pawar at the YB Chavan Centre. This was the first meeting between Sharad and the group-led by Ajit Pawar after he rebelled against his uncle and joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2.
Praful Patel, told the media “We came here without asking for any appointment. Sharad Pawar Hours after Sunday’s meeting made it clear that he cannot support the BJP and will continue with his “progressive politics”.
During his address to youth wing workers from Nashik on Sunday, the 82-year-old veteran politician reaffirmed the NCP’s ideology, emphasising their opposition to the “divisive politics of the BJP”. He urged the workers to stand firm on the principles of inclusivity, equality, secularism, and democracy. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had tried to play down Sunday’s meeting, stating that Sharad Pawar had led the party for 20 years and the meeting was “no big deal”.
