Hinting that all is not well within the NCP, Parth Pawar, MP, met with Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday. Parth’s meeting comes amid speculations about an NCP reunion and senior leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel meeting with the Chief Minister, with the presence of NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction leader Jayant Patil.
Rumours are that Parth and Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Sunetra Pawar had no idea about Tatkare’s and Patil’s meeting with Fadnavis. Local media reports also hint that Parth met the Chief Minister to inform him that Sunetra and he were not aware of the meeting. Parth reportedly expressed his displeasure about the meeting with Fadnavis.
It is understood that Fadnavis had assured Parth Pawar that coordination would be achieved within the grand alliance in the coming period and that any information would be shared with him.
Reunion?
Tatkare has, however, not ruled out a reunion, indicating that the ball is in Sharad Pawar’s court when it comes to a reunion. “During Ajit Pawar’s time, there were discussions about the merger of the two parties. We would have supported the merger decision taken by him (Ajit Pawar). But after his death, the discussions stopped. His (NCP Sharad Pawar) leaders declared at a state-level event that the issue of merger is now over. If the discussions resume, we will express our opinion,” Tatkare said.
This was also the first time that Tatkare admitted that discussions were underway regarding the merger. He also denied reports of differences with Sunetra Pawar. "I had a very good relationship with Ajit Dada. I also have a good relationship with Sunetra's sister-in-law. There is no question of any disagreement, and there is no reason for her to be angry with me on any issue."
Big conspiracy
Anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania has stated that a major conspiracy is being hatched within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and that the party's national president and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar should be cautious. “There is a need to look closely at the movements of two senior NCP leaders. The current developments suggest that there is a big conspiracy being hatched within the party,” she said, adding that NCP national secretary Sachchidanand Singh’s letter to the EC challenging Sunetra Pawar's election as party president could not be an isolated incident and could have a planned strategy behind it.
Damania said that Sunetra Pawar, being relatively new to active politics, may not be fully aware of these developments. “Therefore, she seems to be unable to predict what kind of political tactics could be hatched against her,” Damani said.
