Ajit Pawar has been miffed since his uncle and party supremo Sharad Pawar's only child Supriya Sule entered the political arena. Till then he had a free run in party affairs. However a source said it was decided within the family that Ajit Pawar will concentrate on state politics and Supriya Sule at the Centre.
But this situation may eventually be a blessing in disguise for Sharad Pawar to settle Supriya Sule at the helm of affairs of the party. Sharad Pawar is seeing her daughter's future in aligning with the Congress and the Shiv Sena, said a top source.
Ajit Pawar was sulking for many years but pacified each time by the senior Pawar. Before the elections also, Pawar had resigned from his assembly seat but his uncle, somehow, managed to pacify him. But it is now the first time, the nephew's rebellion is out in the open and sets a challenge for Pawar to save the party at this juncture.
The rebel NCP MLAs are confidants of Ajit Pawar. The numbers are not clear but the rebellion may be compared with Akhilesh Yadav's bid to control his Samajwadi Party while being the Chief Minister. Initially, his father and party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his brother Shivpal Yadav but later swung towards his son after the dust settled.
As Ajit Pawar operated smoothly with his confidante Dhanjay Munde and Sunil Tatkare, who were in touch with Devendra Fadnavis, who finally achieved his desire to return as Chief Minister, it was Ramgopal Yadav, another uncle of Akhilesh Yadav, who helped to catapult Akhilesh Yadav as party President, replacing his father.
( With inputs from IANS )