Amid fresh speculations about a merger between the Sunetra Pawar -led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), NCP national president and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar commented on the matter for the first time on Wednesday, saying the details would be revealed at an appropriate time.
Sharad Pawar meets party leaders
The question about the merger was posed soon after she opened the forum and the media interaction was called off immediately after she responded to it. Parth has, in recent weeks, asserted control over the party by appointing his close aides in important positions, triggering friction with senior leaders over control of the organisation. During the meeting, Pawar is learnt to have sought details of the interaction between the NCP leaders and Shah.
The deputy chief minister was addressing a press conference regarding programmes being organised by the state government to mark the 191st birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda on November 15. Patil was in Baramati to pay respects at the memorial of former NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar , who was killed in an air crash on January 28 this year. Speculations about a merger between the NCP and the NCP (SP) gathered fresh momentum after six senior NCP leaders met union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on November 1, reportedly to convey their support for a merger. Three days later, on November 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sharad Pawar, who was hospitalised in Pune with complaints of chest congestion, to enquire about his health. On Tuesday, Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare met Sunetra Pawar in Baramati and held a 45-minute discussion in presence of Sunetra’s elder son and the NCP national general secretary Parth Pawar , according to NCP insiders. Since being discharged on Saturday, the 85-year-old NCP founder has been meeting senior party leaders almost daily.
The NCP president’s statement came hours after the party’s chief spokesperson Umesh Patil told reporters, “No discussions are currently underway on the merger. Vitthal Maniyar, Modi urged Pawar to take complete rest, and said that his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule was ready to take care of the country along with him, according to the veteran leader’s close friend in Pune. Patel subsequently told reporters that he would meet Pawar again after his discharge from the hospital. the Sharad Pawar camp is learnt to be working on an alternative set of formulas to determine the power-sharing arrangement within the reunited party While the NCP said that Parth visited Silver Oak for a family gathering.
on Wednesday, he met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the latter’s official residence, Varsha, NCP insiders said While Tatkare was tight-lipped about Tuesday’s meeting with Sunetra and Parth Pawar. On Thursday, NCP national working president Praful Patel who was part of the delegation that met Shah, visited the Breach Candy Hospital to inquire about the health of Sharad Pawar, who was recuperating at the hospital. He met Parth Pawar twice in a row at his Mumbai residence, Silver Oak, on Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday’s meeting reportedly lasting around two hours.
