Sharad Pawar seen as hurdle in NCPs’ merger as opposing factions plot divergent moves

NCP founder president Sharad Pawar is being seen as a “hurdle” in the way of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP merging into a single party, NCP sources said here on Thursday.

However, earlier on Thursday, Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar said, “We will hold a press conference regarding the merger of both the NCPs soon. The merger was to be announced on February 12 (Thursday). I was going to hold a press conference today, but now a press conference will be held in Mumbai on February 16 or February 17”.

Advertisement

According to sources, there are roughly two factions even within the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and one of these factions, led by its senior leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, also happens to be pro-BJP, due to which they want the Sharad Pawar-led NCP to merge with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP on terms favourable to the BJP and the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti alliance government. Senior Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader Sunil Tatkare openly expressed such a view on Wednesday.

Yet, other Ajit Pawar-led NCP leaders like Amol Mitkari and Pramod Hindurao, who have been making revelations about the January 28 air crash that killed their late party leader Ajit Pawar, are not too receptive to the idea of an NCP merger, which would benefit the BJP, sources said.

On the other hand, it is also well known that their party leader and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar, who is also the late Ajit Pawar’s wife, is under the influence of senior Ajit Pawar-led NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, who are known to be pro-BJP, sources said.

Sources said that Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar’s recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has complicated matters further, especially since she is certain to replace her husband, the late Ajit Pawar as party chief of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and they might have no other option but to follow her diktat.

According to sources, Sunetra Pawar’s meeting with the PM lasted for nearly 40 minutes, during which a range of issues, including incomplete NCP merger talks and the forthcoming election of the new Ajit Pawar-led NCP president, were discussed.

Sources said that top Ajit Pawar-led NCP leaders expressed a number of difficulties in merging the two NCPs, implying that it should not be done because it would be almost impossible to control NCP founder Sharad Pawar, whose role in any merged NCP would be a major problem.

“If a merger takes place, the new party would have to share ministerial positions in the Maharashtra state cabinet with leaders originally from the Sharad Pawar-led party, and this would create a fresh set of complications. “We already have several MLAs who are upset for not being made a minister and have been waiting for a reshuffle, which was assured by the late Ajit Pawar. So they could revolt if leaders from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP are made ministers. MLAs like Sangram Jagtap, Sunil Shelke and Sanjay Bansode have been insisting on ministerial berths. Both PM Modi and Amit Shah heard us out and our views about the merger, but chose to reserve their thoughts,” sources said.

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar met top Ajit Pawar-led NCP leaders and discussed convening a national executive committee meeting where she is likely to be elected as the new Ajit Pawar-led NCP president, replacing her late husband Ajit Pawar. The meeting is likely to be held in the last week of February, NCP sources said.