Pune: When Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates filed their nomination papers on Wednesday for February’s Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections on the analog clock election symbol, it again heated up rumors over the possible merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party.
The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999, split into two factions in 2023. The party’s name and its clock symbol went to the faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar, who joined the BJP and Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, while the Sharad Pawar faction was given the symbol of a man playing a tutari, a musical instrument.
In recent months, merger discussions have intensified after 85-year-old Sharad Pawar withdrew from active politics. Both factions of the NCP performed poorly in the civic elections held in Maharashtra this month, this being the first time in 60 years that Sharad Pawar did not address a single election rally. At least three senior leaders close to Pawar have told HT that the octogenarian will not seek a second term after his Rajya Sabha term ends on April 2, though his daughter Supriya Sule has said no decision has been taken on this. If that happens, it will mark the formal end of one of the longest and most illustrious political careers in India.
It will also be a blow to the India faction of opposition parties, which also includes the NCP (SP). Most leaders who spoke to HT were of the view that the merged NCP would remain part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state, and hence, would also be part of the NDA at the Centre. Sule said there has been no talk of merger of his party or alliance with the BJP. “They (Ajit Pawar-led NCP) have not proposed anything, and neither have we.”
But it cannot be denied that the results of the municipal elections have dealt a blow to both the factions, which is a blow to the Pawar brand.
Pawar joined the Youth Congress in 1958 at the age of 18, won his first legislative election in 1967 at the age of 20, and became the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1978 at the age of 38. In a career spanning nearly seven decades in public life, he served as Chief Minister of the state three times and held ministries such as Defense and Agriculture in the Union Cabinet.
As the discussion about their withdrawal has gained momentum, the speculations about the merger have also increased. After experimenting with joint panels in select municipal councils like Kagal and Chandgarh in western Maharashtra in December 2025, both factions of the NCP extended their cooperation in the Pune Municipal Corporation and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections. With the decision of NCP (SP) candidates to contest on the election symbol of Ajit Pawar-led NCP in the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections to be held in February, the cooperation seems to be deepening.
Both camps have publicly stated that these arrangements are driven by “local level compulsions” and pressure from grassroots activists. However, privately, leaders from both sides believe that the coordination is part of a larger political realignment going on in the Pawar family and the party.
Recently, in an interview given by Ajit Pawar to a Marathi news channel, the Deputy Chief Minister said that party workers from both sides are in favor of reunification and differences within the Pawar family have been resolved. He said, “Workers of both the parties want to unite. Both the NCPs are now together in alliance. All the tension in our family is over.” When Ajit Pawar visited Sharad Pawar at his Govindbagh residence in Pune on January 17, a day after the results, he told the media that uncle and nephew as a family had never been separated.
A senior NCP leader told HT last fortnight that the merger was “99% certain”, adding that the remaining uncertainty arose from resistance among some party leaders who were concerned about their own political future. “They are uncomfortable because they see it (the merger) as joining hands with the BJP,” said the leader on condition of anonymity.
This uneasiness is especially visible among leaders like Jitendra Awhad and some others who have built their politics around an anti-BJP stance. Another NCP leader said, he fears that the reunification will blur ideological lines and weaken his credibility among core supporters. Yet, the electoral realities since the 2023 division have not been favorable to either faction.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) won eight of the 10 seats it contested as part of the MVA, but despite being in power at the Center and the state, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP failed to translate administrative control into a significant parliamentary majority.
However, the subsequent assembly elections produced different results. Ajit Pawar retained his hold on state-level power through his role as Deputy Chief Minister and his closeness to the BJP leadership; NCP won 41 out of the 53 seats it contested. Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) struggled to convert sympathies and legacies into seats, underscoring the constraints of working without organizational control and the state machinery. He contested elections on 88 seats and won only 10 seats.
The January municipal election results were particularly disappointing for the NCP (SP), which failed to win a single seat in 14 municipal corporations, triggering concern and introspection within the party. The shock was further compounded by Pawar’s absence from the campaign trail. While party leaders like Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar initially argued that Sharad Pawar did not traditionally campaign in civic elections, records suggest otherwise.
This time the absence of not only Pawar but also many other senior leaders was clearly visible. Sule largely confined herself to parliamentary work in Delhi and indulged in campaigning, addressing only a few meetings in the final phase. Jayant Patil did not step out of his hometown Sangli, while Jitendra Awhad campaigned selectively in Thane. The lack of a coordinated campaign led to speculation that the party itself was unsure of the way forward.
People close to Pawar say his lack of public presence is not only strategic but also personal. Over the past few months, the length of his speeches has reduced significantly, lasting barely minutes. In November 2024, Sharad Pawar openly hinted at his retirement from parliamentary politics while introducing the newest member of the family – his grandson Yugendra Pawar, then 32. “I am not in power. I have already contested 14 elections. How many more will I contest?” he asked a gathering in Baramati. “The new generation should be given a chance. You never let me go home, you made me win in all the elections, but I have to stay somewhere.” This statement appears to have been the first public indication of impending change.
In this changing scenario, the roles of Sule and Ajit Pawar have become more clearly defined. As a four-time MP, Sule has focused on national level politics, parliamentary intervention and opposition coordination in Delhi. His critics within the party argue that this has come at the expense of organization building in Maharashtra, while his supporters say he has established himself as a national face beyond state politics.
On the other hand, Ajit Pawar has strengthened his hold on the state administration. As Deputy Chief Minister, he controls key departments and has re-established himself as a decisive power center in Maharashtra.
His colleagues believe that the merger will only formalize what already exists in practice. A senior leader close to him said, “Ajit Pawar already runs state politics for the party. The sooner the merger happens, the easier the transition will be.” Another leader close to him said, “The merger will increase their bargaining power within the Mahayuti alliance. With the addition of eight NCP (SP) MPs, the total number will be ten, while the two NCPs will have 51 MLAs in the state assembly.”
In their first meeting in Baramati after the January 16 results, leaders of both factions struck a pragmatic acceptance that their continued division only weakens Pawar’s legacy. For Sharad Pawar, the merger may be less about power and more about closure. Leaders close to him said that once he steps away from parliamentary politics, resistance within his faction may reduce, allowing reunification to proceed without his personal involvement in day-to-day politics.
The Pawar dynasty has seen internal changes before. It was Sharad Pawar who handed over the Baramati assembly seat to Ajit Pawar in the late 1980s, while the family remained a dominant force in the region. Interestingly, Sharad Pawar himself was not the first in the family to contest elections – that distinction goes to his elder brother Vasantrao.
Whether the current moment marks the beginning of Sharad Pawar’s political winter or it is another phase of strategic reorientation remains to be seen. But with NCP (SP) candidates adopting the ‘clock’ symbol and Pawar’s own public signals becoming clearer, Maharashtra politics seems to be entering a post-Sharad Pawar phase – a phase where his influence may continue even if his active presence diminishes.
“Sharad Pawar always believes in impeccable timing. If he now exits parliamentary politics and allows the party to unite again, it will be his last act of real politics,” a senior BJP leader told HT, somewhat admiringly.
