The decision by Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, to join the Maharashtra government has stalled the merger talks between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the NCP(SP). In response, leaders from the Sharad Pawar-led faction met on Saturday at his residence in Baramati to discuss their party’s next steps.
The meeting follows Sharad Pawar’s revelation that he had no knowledge of Sunetra’s plans to take over the Deputy Chief Minister post, which was previously held by her late husband, in the BJP-led Mahayuti government.
MP Supriya Sule, MLA Rohit Pawar, Yugendra Pawar and other senior NCP (SP) leaders were present at the NCP(SP) meeting.
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At a press conference earlier that day, Sharad Pawar claimed that Ajit Pawar had been in favour of a merger between the two NCP factions. Talks on the matter had been ongoing for the last four months, with Ajit setting February 12 as the deadline for finalising the merger.
When asked whether the merger would lead to a shift towards the NDA, Sharad Pawar dismissed the suggestion, stating, “This is all speculation from your side (media). There is nothing like that here.”
Sources indicated that neither Sharad Pawar nor his family members were informed about Sunetra’s decision to join the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti government.
“A merger is the need of the hour to build a strong NCP and provide an effective political alternative. Talks had reached an advanced stage, but in Ajit Pawar’s absence, the question now is who will take the final call,” a senior NCP(SP) leader told PTI.
Senior NCP(SP) leader Jayant Patil said Ajit was eager to reunite with his uncle Sharad Pawar and had held several meetings to facilitate the merger of the two party factions.
"He (Ajit Pawar) visited my house on multiple occasions and held talks over dinner. He said he wanted to reunite with his uncle by getting over the past. On January 16, we decided to contest the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections together, and the announcement of the formal merger was to be made on February 12," Patil said.
With the merger talks now on hold, it remains unclear whether the two factions will proceed with their plan to contest the third phase of civic body elections scheduled for February 5. Both factions had previously agreed to contest under Ajit Pawar’s faction’s ‘clock’ symbol.