'Ajit Pawar not our leader,' Sharad Pawar takes U-turn after 'no conflict, no split in party' remark

livemint.com:

Sharad Pawar said, “I am not saying that Ajit Pawar is our leader. Supriya Sule had said that. They are like siblings and there is no need to look for a political meaning behind this.

I did not say that Ajit Pawar is our leader." "This is your (media's) fault. That was said by Supriya and it also appeared in newspapers. Given the kind of stand he has taken, he is not our leader." Earlier, Sharad Pawar denied a split in the party and said that a split happens when a major chunk of the party steps out at the national level.

“There is no conflict that he (Ajit Pawar) is our leader, there is no split in NCP. How does a split happen in a party? It happens when a big group separates from the party at the national level. But there is no such situation in NCP today.

Yes, some leaders took a different stance but this can't be called a split. They can do so in a democracy," said Sharad Pawar in Baramati. In July, Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs had joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Maharashtra.

He then sworn in as a Deputy Chief Minister of the state along with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. However, there are speculation that Ajit Pawar might be willing to join Sharad Pawar's party again. With the Ajit Pawar group still using Sharad Pawar’s picture on some of its billboards, it is clear that the faction is not confident of winning elections without the support of Sharad Pawar.