Different picture will prevail in coming polls: Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said the upcoming elections would present a different outcome and praised party workers for their resilience in the face of adversity

Pune: Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that the upcoming elections would present a different outcome and praised party workers for their resilience in the face of adversity, including last year’s split in the NCP, which he co-founded 26 years ago.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said the upcoming elections would present a different outcome and praised party workers for their resilience in the face of adversity. (HT FILE)

Speaking at the party’s 26th foundation day celebration in Pune, Pawar acknowledged the unexpected rupture in the organisation. “We never imagined that the party would split, but it did. Despite that, you stayed the course and continued working without losing spirit,” he told workers.

Referring indirectly to his nephew Ajit Pawar’s decision to break away and join the BJP-Shiv Sena government in July 2023, Pawar said, “Some people chose a different path, embracing another ideology, and the divide only deepened. I don’t wish to dwell on that today. Those who stayed back did so because they believed in our core values.”

Pawar said that he was optimistic about the political landscape changing in the coming elections.

Following the split, the Election Commission of India allotted the original party name and clock symbol to the Ajit Pawar faction. Sharad Pawar’s group was formally recognised as the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).