'You have no right to comment': Sharad Pawar questions Fadnavis's role in NCP merger talks

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar on Wednesday questioned Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s right to comment on the ongoing NCP merger talks, as he was not involved in the reconciliation discussions between the two factions.

Pawar stated that the merger talks were taking place between his late nephew and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and NCP (SP) leader Jayan Patil. "I do not understand what right he has to mention my name. As he was nowhere in the merger talks, he has no right to comment on it," Pawar said while speaking to reporters in Baramati.

When asked about the future of the merger talks, Pawar emphasised that the priority for now was to support each other and a decision on next steps would be made later. "As far as political discussions are concerned, we are not talking to anyone," he added.

Pawar also expressed happiness over the appointment of Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar, 66, the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister in the state, tragically passed away in a chartered aircraft crash on January 28 while en route to Baramati for a rally ahead of the Zilla Parishad elections.

Earlier, Sharad Pawar had stated that Ajit was in favor of the merger between the warring NCP factions and had set February 12 as the deadline for an agreement. He also mentioned that he was not consulted regarding Sunetra’s decision to join the Mahayuti government following Ajit’s death.

There were speculations that the swift swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar as Deputy CM was an attempt by the Mahayuti to disrupt the ongoing merger talks between the two NCP factions.