Pune: Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Sharad Pawar faction, visited MP Amol Kolhe at his Narayangaon residence. This visit is part of Pawar’s ongoing meetings with party workers in North Pune district.

Interestingly, Atul Benke, an MLA from the Ajit Pawar faction, was also present during this visit, raising eyebrows in political circles. Benke represents the Junnar Assembly constituency.

Sharad Pawar made a noteworthy statement during the visit, saying, "Those who worked for the NCP during the Lok Sabha elections are ours. It is our responsibility to protect their interests."

He emphasized the NCP's success by noting, "We contested 10 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and won 8, making us the number one party in terms of strike rate."

Today, Pawar is touring the Junnar, Ambegaon, and Khed talukas and will be interacting with party workers. The presence of Ajit Pawar faction’s MLA Atul Benke at Kolhe's residence has sparked various speculations about potential political realignments ahead of the Assembly elections.

Recently, the Ajit Pawar faction suffered a significant blow in Pimpri-Chinchwad, with 24 office bearers and former corporators joining the NCP in the presence of Sharad Pawar during the Ahilyadevi Holkar Jayanti program in Baramati.

With the Assembly elections likely to be held in October, more political maneuvering is expected as leaders seek to secure their positions. To prevent further defections and address grievances, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will host a meeting on Sunday (July 21)

The race to re-establish control over Pimpri-Chinchwad in the upcoming assembly elections has heated up between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Following the induction of city president Ajit Ghavane, Sharad Pawar's NCP is now working to attract discontented members from the BJP.