Mumbai: Asha-tai Pawar, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s mother, on Wednesday said she prayed to Lord Vitthal that her son and his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar should come together again.

Asha-tai visited the famous Vitthal and Rukmini temple at Pandharpur in the morning.

Talking to reporters outside the temple, she said, “I prayed that all the grievances within the Pawar family should end, and Ajit and Sharad Pawar come together again. I hope my prayers will be granted.” Her remarks came amid speculation that efforts to bring the rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party together were underway after the Maharashtra assembly elections.

Ajit Pawar, who started out in politics as his uncle’s protege, parted ways with him after more than three decades by splitting the party and joining the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state in July 2023.

In the legal battle that followed, Ajit Pawar secured the Nationalist Congress Party’s electoral symbol. His party also outperformed the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections.

Asked about Asha-tai’s remarks, Praful Patel, a senior leader of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, said, “Sharad Pawar has always been like a father to us. We even met him last month to wish him happy birthday, but it was not a political meeting.

“Although we have taken a different political stand, we have always respected Sharad Pawar greatly,” Patel told reporters in Gadchiroli.

“If the Pawar family reunites, we would be very happy….I consider myself a part of the Pawar family,” he added.

He also said that “a reunion would not bring any disrespect to anyone.” Elsewhere, another NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Narhari Zirwal said he was too junior to speak on such matters, but a reunion would benefit party workers like him.

“We feel distressed (due to the split in the NCP), as we hold Sharad Pawar in great respect,” he added.