Faced with differences in the Pune unit of his party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday sought to bring the warring factions together by warning top leaders not to antagonise party workers.

The differences came to the fore as office-bearers of the city unit complained o Pawar that corporators in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) were ignoring party workers. The NCP chief warned corporators to mend their fences and work in coordination with party office-bearers.

In the same breath, Pawar refused to interfere in the matters related to an alliance forged by the local unit of party with the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the PMC.

“The NCP chief said that corporators should not forget that they owe their chairs to the contribution of party workers in getting them elected,” a senior NCP leader said. Pawar addressed party leaders at a closed-door meeting to review the political situation in the city with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Pawar also asked the office-bearers in PMC to take party workers into confidence before taking any decision. “The NCP chief was of the view that the elected representatives of the party should coordinate with the party leaders on its various plans in the civic body.”

On the demand for snapping ties with the BJP in the local civic body after the recent standoff between workers of the two parties, the NCP leader said the party chief refused to interfere in local matters related to the alliance.

“The decision on an alliance with the Shiv Sena and the BJP was taken at a local level, so I will not interfere in it,” Pawar told party leaders.

There were efforts to tie up with the Congress in the PMC, but it was due to the unreasonable stand taken by local Congress leaders that forced a alliance with the saffron parties, NCP leaders said.

Pawar, however, made clear that the NCP would contest the assembly and Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress.

Pawar told reporters that the NCP would begin seat-sharing talks with the Congress only after the state leadership issue takes a final decision on the alliance partner.

“We are in favour of all UPA partners contesting elections in alliance, and the same goes in the state,” the NCP chief said, adding that his party would target as many seats as the party strength would warrant.