The end of Sharad Pawar or the beginning of another Pawar play?

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Maharashtra's political waters have been muddied so much in recent years that there is little clarity on the political prospects of different leaders and parties. Ever since the elections in Maharashtra in 2019, the state politics has been on a roller-coaster ride — the BJP's failed attempt to form a government with Ajit Pawar, a leader of its opponent NCP, as deputy CM; the unlikely emergence of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) when Shiv Sena allied with opponents — the NCP and the Congress; the splitting of Shiv Sena and the ascendency of rebel Eknath Shinde as the CM with BJP support; and now Ajit Pawar joining the Shinde-Fadnavis government as a deputy CM. By effecting a vertical split in his party, has the BJP been able to bring NCP leader Sharad Pawar down from his powerful perch in state politics? Or does Pawar have some new trick up his sleeve?

On the face of it, Sharad Pawar, the crafty giant of Maharashtra politics, has been outfoxed by the BJP. A majority of his MLAs have possibly gone with his nephew Ajit. His efforts to forge an opposition unity against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections have been seriously damaged. In May, he managed to outwit his nephew by resigning from the party and then coming back with renewed support from the party cadre. He was also able to install his daughter Supriya Sule as the NCP working president and incharge of Maharashtra, sidelining a rebellious Ajit, who has been seen as the senior-most leader in the party after Pawar.

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But now Pawar seems to be standing on the rubble of his party. NCP has split vertically. Pawar's image of a powerful satrap in control of his party cadre