Almost a year after he skipped a meeting at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) here where his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar was present, Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar were seen avoiding each other and did not sit beside each other at the annual meeting this year. Neither did they spoke with each other.
Junior Pawar was scheduled to sit beside senior Pawar, but the seating arrangement was changed later, sources said. In the meeting arrangement that was made earlier, Ajit Pawar was supposed to sit next to Sharad Pawar. However, later Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil was seen sitting in his place. Ajit Pawar was arranged to sit on the right side of Sharad Pawar and Dilip Walse Patil on the left side; however, it is seen that Ajit Pawar has avoided sitting next to Sharad Pawar.
Recently, both attended the inaugural function of the ‘2025 Agriculture Festival’ but chose not to sit together.
The 47th Annual General Meeting and Award Ceremony of Vasantdada Sugar Institute was held in Pune on Thursday. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar, Dilip Walse Patil, and other dignitaries are present for this program.
The President of the organization, Sharad Pawar, Vice President Dilip Walse Patil, Trustees of the organization Ajit Pawar, Harshvardhan Patil, Jayaprakash Dandegaonkar, and other leaders were also present for this award ceremony.
Are Pawars going to unite?
Amidst talks of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar coming together, there seems to be no sign of an end to discord in the Pawar family. Recently, his cousin Supriya Sule said that Ajit Pawar refuses to talk to her. The cousins, however, meet on several occasions in Baramati and Pune. She had also said that she is in touch with Sunetra Pawar, Parth, and Jay Pawar. Sunetra is the wife of Ajit Pawar, whereas Parth and Jay are his sons.
The NCP split in July last year after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde government. The Election Commission of India later gave him the party name and 'clock' symbol, while Sharad Pawar's faction was christened NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
The two factions have since been bitter rivals, the acrimony marked by stinging statements against each other and peaking with duels in Lok Sabha and assembly polls for Baramati, the family's turf for over half a century.
