Ajit group 'still hopeful' Sharad Pawar will join them

The Ajit Pawar group of the NCP has still not given up hope that their political guru Sharad Pawar will soon join them, though he has not responded to their plea yet. "We have not given up hope, we will continue to persuade him for (the need for) a united NCP. Sharad Pawar is a fatherly figure, and it will be our endeavour to knock at his doors and seek his blessings," the party's Rajya Sabha MP and a key Ajit group leader Praful Patel told TOI.