‘NCP (SP) open for alliance with all parties barring BJP’
Office-bearers of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) have told their cadre that they can forge alliances with any party barring the BJP, with which it has ideological differences
Mumbai: Chances of an alliance between two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for the upcoming local body polls have received a boost as office-bearers of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) have told their cadre that they can forge alliances with any party barring the BJP, with which it has ideological differences. Instructions to this effect were issued during the two-day meeting of the NCP (SP) women’s wing which concluded on Wednesday, party insiders told Hindustan Times.
“During the meeting, the party’s national working president Supriya Sule said decisions on alliances have to be taken by local units. She said that except the BJP, local leaders can forge alliances with all other parties wherever they believe such pacts would be in the party’s interest,” a senior NCP (SP) leader who participated in the two-day meeting told HT.
Sule, however, refused to confirm while speaking to reporters that such instructions had been issued during the meeting. Responding to pointed questions about discussions regarding the NCP (SP) allying with parties barring the BJP for the local body polls, she said, “There is no such discussion (in the party). But we have received several suggestions from workers who have their own views.”
Sule said that the NCP (SP) was keen to contest the polls as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition wherever possible.
“Our desire is to contest as part of the MVA and we will prioritise the same wherever possible. But it depends on several other factors such as the views of local leaders and various permutations and combinations, as parties in the coalition may want to contest on their own,” Sule said.
The prospect of alliances for the local body polls would become clearer in the next 8-10 days, she noted.
The development comes at a time when relations between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar, who leads the NCP, appear to have thawed, especially over the last eight months. This marks a sharp departure from how things were after the party split into two factions in 2023, and the two leaders began ignoring each other even while sharing the stage.
On October 1, Ajit visited the YB Chavan where he had an hour-long meeting with the senior Pawar. He later claimed the meeting was about the Shivnagar Vidya Prasarak Mandal, an educational institution in Baramati.
On May 18, Sharad Pawar telephoned Ajit, the deputy chief minister, and requested him to look into the issue of farmers affected by the Purandar airport. A day earlier, Ajit showered praise on his uncle and political mentor for empowering women by granting them a 33% quota in local bodies in 1993, when he was the chief minister.
In December 2024, Ajit had met Sharad Pawar on his birthday. In April 2025, Sharad Pawar also attended the engagement ceremony of Ajit’s younger son Jay.
