NEW DELHI: Is a storm brewing in Maharashtra’s Pawar clan? The family that saw a vertical split in 2023, seems to be at a crossroads again.“As a member of the Pawar family and their relative, I want to alert Parth Pawar, Jay Pawar and Sunetra kaki. They need to understand the political strategies of the BJP and certain leaders close to them”: Nephew Rohit Rajendra Pawar’s warning for his “kaki” Sunetra Pawar, who is the wife of late Ajit Pawar, and her two children.Sunetra, who is the deputy chief minister in the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti at present, is on the other side of the family divide. She and her sons control the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was originally formed by Sharad Pawar in 1999 but was wrested from him by Ajit Pawar in 2023.So, let’s look at some of the recent developments to analyse if Rohit Pawar’s warning has a genuine basis.Senior NCP leaders met Union home minister Amit Shah recently. Some reports suggested that the NCP leaders complained to Amit Shah about the unilateral functioning of party MP Parth Pawar and a lack of proper coordination. The NCP spokesperson denied this claim and slammed irresponsible media reporting.
6 senior NCP leaders meet Amit Shah to demand finance ministry portfolio in Maharashtra.
NCP chief Sunetra Pawar convened an urgent meeting of the core committee at her official residence, Devgiri. This was the second meeting of the core committee in a week. The first meeting happened after the senior leaders had met Amit Shah.At the core committee meeting, the party legislators and ministers expressed serious concerns over internal frictions and claimed the party is weakening in the absence of unity.When Sharad Pawar was hospitalised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him in the hospital and requested the veteran politician to prioritise his health and rest. PM Modi’s message to the senior Pawar, “Supriya and we will handle the country. You take care of your health and rest. Let your blessings remain with us,” sparked political buzz. And perhaps carried a political undertone about possible churn, amid speculation about Sunetra Pawar and her sons’ political future.Adding fuel to the fire, Union minister and Republican Party of India (Athawale) president Ramdas Athawale claimed that Sule could be considered for a position in the Union cabinet during its next expansion if she joined the ruling NDA.These four developments, significant in their own ways, collectively point to the flux within the NCP factions after the party was split in 2023.Ajit Pawar, while he was alive, had managed a firm grip on his faction winning 41 assembly seats in the 2024 assembly elections. There were even talks of the two factions uniting again. However, his unfortunate death in a helicopter crash in January 2026, suddenly made the NCP vulnerable and the merger talks were put to rest.Ajit’s wife Sunetra Pawar, who took over the reins of the NCP and also became a minister in the Mahayuti government, tried to fill the vacuum in the party.Her sons – Parth and Jay Pawar – became an integral part of decision-making. Senior NCP leaders who had worked with Ajit Pawar over the years were sidelined. This led to heartburn and talks of discontent within the party. It is in this context that the meeting of senior NCP leaders with Amit Shah and the subsequent meeting of the party’s core committee held by Sunetra Pawar have set tongues wagging.Rohit Pawar in his warning message had pointed to the “political strategies of the BJP and certain leaders close to them.” So, is something happening behind the scenes? Is the BJP working to merge the NCP factions to water down the influence of Sunetra and her sons?Well, there is no definitive answer to these questions.For the record, the NCP has denied all speculations of any power tussle within the party.NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil termed the reports suggesting senior party functionaries met Shah, a BJP leader, in New Delhi three days ago without informing Sunetra Pawar as “completely incorrect”.Patil maintained she herself had requested the Union minister to give time to a delegation of senior party leaders. He said Sunetra Pawar and her son Parth had met Shah twice last month when discussions were held on matters related to the party, a BJP ally and constituent of the Mahayuti government in the state.Sunetra Pawar had then requested Shah to meet senior NCP leaders who had been involved in discussions with BJP leaders when the party joined the NDA, said Patil.An appointment with Shah for the delegation was subsequently given, said the spokesperson, adding the NCP’s core committee and legislative wing meetings were also scheduled several days in advance.The official spokesperson also defended the involvement of Parth Pawar in party affairs, saying the Pawar family had dedicated itself to the organisation following the death of former NCP president Ajit Pawar in an air crash in January this year.“After Ajit Dada’s death, Sunetra Pawar (and her sons) Parth and Jay have dedicated themselves to the party,” Umesh Patil said.Now, coming to the second aspect of the developments. It is not for the first time that the Prime Minister has expressed his special bond with Sharad Pawar, despite the two leaders being on opposite sides of the political divide.In July this year, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule met the Prime Minister at his office even as opposition MPs protested outside. The Prime Minister was then seen receiving Pawar at the door of his room. During the meeting Sharad Pawar submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister listing the issues faced by the farmers in the country and issues related to irrigation.In February 2025, PM Modi made a gesture of respect by helping 84-year-old Sharad Pawar with his chair on stage and offering him a glass of water.In August 2023, Sharad Pawar shared the stage with PM Modi in Pune when the Prime Minister was conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak Award. The move created unease among some members of the opposition INDIA alliance. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) questioned the optics of the two leaders appearing together, especially when Sharad Pawar was a key leader of the opposition’s INDIA bloc.
Is BJP courting Sharad Pawar?
Well, the saffron party is obviously not ‘working’ or ‘not working’ to facilitate a ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain‘ reconciliation moment for the Pawar clan. The real prize of the BJP would be co-opting the political infrastructure of the veteran, who was also known as ‘Janata Raja‘ (people’s king). With decades of work, the influence of Pawar Saheb extends beyond assembly seats to an entrenched network of sugar cooperatives, district banks, local bodies and influential political families across western Maharashtra. Though the seats and power is not transferable as it is, a working understanding with Sharad Pawar could give the BJP access to this ecosystem without having to build its own grassroots machinery from scratch.If Sharad Pawar does decide to merge and if Athawale’s claim turns out to be true, Sule may get an opportunity to be in “power” again.
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There may also be a larger opposition calculation at play. Sharad Pawar was instrumental in stitching together the Maha Vikas Aghadi and managing the competing ambitions of the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. Any rapprochement with the BJP, even without a formal merger, could weaken this arrangement, complicate seat-sharing and disrupt opposition coordination in Maharashtra. The BJP could gain not just an ally but also greater room to manoeuvre against a much fragmented opposition.This will also help the BJP in Maharashtra to keep the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena in check. The recent loss of the ruling Mahayuti in the MLC elections turned into an ugly war of words between the two allies – with the BJP accusing the Shinde Sena of not working for the coalition.A united NCP on its side may perhaps provide the BJP manoeuvring room against the Shinde Sena in Maharashtra.
