New Delhi: For the second day in a row, the splintered group MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Ajit Pawar, met with party patriarch Sharad Pawar at Y.B. Chavan Centre in Mumbai on Monday, July 17.A senior leader from the Pawar Senior camp told the Hindu that the meeting was unplanned and Sharad Pawar was unaware of Ajit Pawar’s faction coming to see him. “He was on his way to the Chavan Centre when Ajit Pawar and other MLAs came. He was not expecting them today. It was a surprise visit,” he said.According to NDTV, Praful Patel, a key leader from Ajit Pawar’s faction, said, “We came here without asking for any appointment. We understood Sharad Pawar reached here for a meeting and that’s why we all came here to take his blessings.”They had also called on Pawar Senior on Sunday, which both sides described as an “impromptu” meeting. It was the first meeting of Pawars after Pawar Junior walked away with NCP MLAs to join the Eknath Shinde-led government. Ajit Pawar had said he sought the blessings of his uncle, Sharad Pawar, and asked him to guide the party. However, Pawar Senior had reportedly remained silent.Similarly, on Monday, led by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel, the MLAs from the breakaway faction reportedly urged Sharad Pawar to ensure that the party remained united under his leadership. According to the Ajit Pawar faction, the second meeting happened because several MLAs from Ajit’s faction couldn’t meet Pawar Senior on Sunday as they were away from Mumbai, in their respective constituencies.“In today’s [Monday’s] meeting with Sharad Saheb, we again asked him to ensure that the NCP stays united. Although he attentively listened to us, like yesterday, even today, he refrained from offering a reaction,” Patel said following a half-hour meeting with Pawar Senior.The senior leader from Sharad Pawar’s camp said that Pawar Junior and Patel discussed disqualification notices moved by the former’s camp against nine NCP MLAs who joined the Shinde government. He also said that they also urged Sharad Pawar to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Following the surprise visit of Ajit Pawar’s faction, NCP state president Jayant Patil, a loyalist of Pawar Senior, who was at his residence after having met with governor Ramesh Bais, hurried to the Chavan Centre.“I was informed about their arrival and asked to reach the Chavan Centre without delay. Pawar Saheb told me that he would only meet them in my presence. During the meeting, the MLAs sought Pawar Saheb’s guidance, asking him to show them a way forward,” Patil said.The so-called impromptu meetings between the parent and breakaway factions of NCP have raised the political temperature in Maharashtra, giving way to all kinds of speculations. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar skipped day one of the two-day grand opposition meeting being held in Bengaluru on Monday, July 17. According to Pawar’s Senior camp, he will join the meeting on Tuesday, July 18.