Ajit Pawar meets uncle Sharad Pawar on 84th birthday in New Delhi

"Some relations are beyond politics. Politics is also not only about criticism," said the Maharashtra deputy chief minister after the meetng with Pawar

Mumbai: After their bitter campaign during the recent assembly elections targeting each other's parties, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar met his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar on his 84th birthday in New Delhi on Thursday.

A file photo of Ajit and Sharad Pawar. (HT FILE)(HT_PRINT)

Ajit visited Pawar at his official residence as a parliamentarian in Delhi. He was accompanied by senior NCP leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare, along with his wife Sunetra and elder son Parth.

This marked the first time Ajit had personally greeted Pawar on his birthday since the split in the NCP in July 2023.

"Some relations are beyond politics. Politics is also not only about criticism. Yashwatrao Chavan (first chief minister of Maharashtra) has taught us how to do cultured politics and we try to follow him," said Ajit after meeting Pawar.

"We also had general discussions on several issues, right from Parbhani violence to Parliament disruption, state cabinet expansion among others," he added.

Pawar's grandnephew Yugendra, who had contested assembly elections against Ajit, said the visit was a family affair with nothing to do with politics.

Before meeting Pawar, Ajit extended his best wishes to the veteran leader through a post on X. The NCP leaders reached Pawar's residence unannounced. The entire Pawar family gathered together to celebrate Pawar's birthday as he turned 83. It was also the first time the party had not made any plans to celebrate the party supremo's birthday, unlike previous years.

"We always come to take his blessings on his birthday and this time we came to seek Saheb's blessings," said Patel after meeting Pawar.

Tatkare and Bhujbal echoed similar sentiments, saying they were following tradition. "We felt happy to greet him on his birthday," Bhujbal said in his response.