The Nationalist Congress Party split last year when Ajit Pawar led a shock rebellion. (FILE)
Sharad Pawar today welcomed several National Congress Party (NCP) leaders back to his camp. In high spirits after the surge in his faction's strength, the 83-year-old made it clear that if his nephew Ajit Pawar ever sought to return to the fold, the decision would be taken by his party, not him.
The NCP split last year when Ajit Pawar led a shock rebellion and joined forces with Maharashtra's Eknath Shinde-BJP government, with eight MLAs.
"Everyone has a place in the house. As far as the party is concerned, I wouldn't take the decision myself, all those who stood with me will be consulted," Sharad Pawar said.
Sharad Pawar personally welcomed the returnees - including Ajit Gavhane, Rahul Bhosale, Yash Sane, Pankaj Bhalekar, and around 20 former municipal corporators and other unit heads - to the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) fold with party flags, stoles and blessings.
After the split, the Election Commission on February 6 recognised Ajit Pawar's faction as the real NCP and also allotted the party's symbol 'clock' to the group led by him. The poll body allotted 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the group led by Sharad Pawar.
Last month, Sharad Pawar said those who wanted to "weaken" his party would not be taken in, but he would accept leaders who would not "hurt" the image of the party.
The recent development is being seen as a jolt to Ajit Pawar just three months before the Maharashtra assembly elections.
The homecoming of Ajit Garwane, former NCP Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief, is significant. The assembly seat of Pimpri Chinchwad is currently held by the BJP. Mr Gavhane claimed he quit Ajit Pawar's faction because he was not satisfied with the work done by the BJP for the region.
"If you look at Pimpri-Chinchwad, both Ajit dada and Pawar sahab had contributed to its development. But since 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been ruling PPMC (Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation). There is rampant corruption here, and the sitting MLA is responsible for it," Mr Gavhane said.
He also said that he was interested in contesting the Maharashtra assembly election.
Mr Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)'s working president, said many people in the "opposition also look towards Mr Pawar with great hopes, which is why they are joining him".
The Ajit Pawar camp's poor show in the recent Lok Sabha elections is seen as a big trigger for the crossovers.
In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 30 of 48 seats. The BJP won nine seats, a sharp drop from the 23 it won in the 2019 election in the state. Its ally Shiv Sena won seven seats. Ajit Pawar's party contested the Lok Sabha elections as part of the BJP-led NDA, but could win just one seat - Raigad.