Rumours of a potential NCP merger refuse to die down despite Sunetra Pawar, wife of deceased NCP chief Ajit Pawar, taking oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Though NCP state president Sunil Tatkare stated that the party would remain with the NDA, Pawar’s close aide Kiran Gujar’s remarks about a merger are grabbing attention.
Gujar, a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan and a close aide of the late Ajit Pawar, said that the entire Pawar family will fulfill Ajit Pawar's last wish and that a positive decision has been taken.
Interestingly, Gujar’s statement came as Parth Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s son, chose to skip his mother Sunetra’s oath-taking ceremony in Mumbai and instead held a closed-door meeting with Sarath Pawar and Supriya Sule on Sunday. As per reports, Parth spent more than one hour on Saturday morning at Sharad Pawar’s residence in Govindbaug, Baramati, in what sources described as a crucial discussion.
Though Gujar made no mention of the meeting, he said Ajit Pawar's final wish will be fulfilled soon, and both the NCP and Congress parties will come together. “The Pawar family will not talk about this issue for the next ten to eleven days, but the merger of the two parties may happen. On January 21, Ajit Pawar had told me that the NCP should be merged with the Congress. He had said that discussions are also going on about it,” Gujar claimed.
“We have discussed various issues with Sharad Pawar, including the construction of Ajit Pawar 's memorial on the premises of Vidya Pratishthan College. We are all together to fulfil Ajit Pawar's dream. A positive decision has been taken regarding the merger of both the NCP parties, and a final decision will be taken soon,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has stated that the BJP was the primary mastermind behind the appointment of Sunetra Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister just four days after Ajit Pawar's death. The Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece, "Saamana," claimed that the BJP leadership, along with NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel, did not want the NCP to reunify.
NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar had stated that he was unaware that Sunetra was about to be sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. “Saamana” claimed that no family member, including Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule, was aware of her swearing-in. Sunetra quietly left Baramati for Mumbai without informing anyone.
The report added that after Ajit Pawar's death, some within the party grew ambitious, and there was a race within the NCP to become the Deputy Chief Minister. Things are not going well between Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare. Therefore, Sunetra Pawar was hastily appointed Chief Minister to demonstrate the unity of the Patel and Pawar families, it is alleged.
