Barely days after estranged Thackeray cousins Uddhav and Raj announced a formal alliance for the BMC and other municipal corporation polls in Maharashtra, the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP) also joined the list of family reunions in the state.
Both Pawar factions on Monday announced they have joined hands to contest the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections in the home district of the family that is also viewed as the pocket borough of the undivided NCP.
The tie-up will be their first since they split in 2023 when Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle, Sharad Pawar, and took along a sizable chunk of the party’s MPs and legislators.
Elections for the 29 civic bodies in Maharashtra, including the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations, will be held on January 15. The results will be announced on January 16.
"For the sake of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, the 'clock' and the 'tutari' (trumpet) have united. The 'parivar' (family) has come together,” said Ajit during a rally.
The clock symbol belongs to the undivided NCP. It was awarded to Ajit's faction by the Election Commission when it recognised his group as the original party. The Sharad Pawar faction subsequently adopted the 'tutari' (curved trumpet) symbol.
Both factions contested elections separately. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where his faction faced setbacks, Ajit acknowledged that turning his back on family had been a “mistake”.
The Thackerays’ reunion
Uddhav and Raj were once part of the same party, Shiv Sena, founded by Balasaheb Thackeray. Their relationship soured nearly two decades ago due to differences over leadership and the future direction of the party.
The split became public in December 2005, when Raj Thackeray quit the Shiv Sena, saying he felt sidelined and humiliated. In March 2006, he formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, marking a clear political break from Uddhav.
The coming together of the Thackerays and the Pawars is mostly driven by political arithmetic in Maharashtra.
Both Raj and Uddhav have seen their influence challenged. The division of Sena weakened Uddhav while Raj was fighting to stay relevant after repeated electoral failures of the MNS.
A Thackeray reunion is reunifying Marathi asmita and preventing vote fragmentation, particularly in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
With BJP dominant, both parties aim at reclaiming the Marathi vote and mounting a credible challenge in urban Maharashtra.
Why did Pawars reunite?
The NCP split had weakened both camps. Reuniting helps consolidate the core NCP vote, especially in western Maharashtra, where factional fights have helped rivals.
Ajit has publicly stated multiple times that he regretted fielding his wife against his cousin Supriya Sule in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, in both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the main rivals are NCP and BJP. The split in NCP in 2023 was expected to have its impact on the 2026 elections of both PMC and PCMC. With the factions joining hands now, the battle may not be easy for BJP.
The unity also is expected to foster confidence in grassroots workers of both the factions who were also divided when the split happened.
Also, a united Pawar front strengthens negotiating power—whether within the ruling alliance or the opposition—ensuring the family remains central to Maharashtra politics.
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