The anti-merger Sunil Tatkare-Praful Patel faction within the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP is likely to join the BJP even as the Deputy CM is preparing to call a core committee meeting to discuss differences within the party, sources said here on Monday.
File Photo: IANS
The anti-merger Sunil Tatkare-Praful Patel faction within the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP is likely to join the BJP even as the Deputy CM is preparing to call a core committee meeting to discuss differences within the party, sources said here on Monday.
The sources further said that the faction within the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which was always opposed to merger of the two NCPs even when the late Ajit Pawar was trying to achieve a merger when alive, is increasingly displaying signs that if Deputy CM Sunetra takes any more steps to merge her party with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, it may decide to join the BJP.
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Earlier, Sunetra Pawar’s elder son Parth Pawar had led Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday even as Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar said that 24 MLAs of Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP, who support Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel, are likely to join the BJP.
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Sunetra Pawar is expected to make her stand clear in the core committee meeting on all issues and announce an initiative to merge both NCPs, though the meeting’s date or venue has not been announced yet.
According to sources, if Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar announces any move to merge her NCP with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, it might lead to a showdown with the Sunil Tatkare-Praful Patel faction as well as MLAs who support them, who may oppose any such merger.
In a related development, Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar claimed on Monday that an audio clip has surfaced where two senior Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP leaders are heard using extremely derogatory language to describe the late Ajit Pawar. Though he has not named the leaders, indications are that the voices in the audio recording allegedly sound like the of Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel.
Reacting to this audio recording, Amol Mitkari, an NCP leader from the Sunetra Ajit Pawar faction and a known loyalist who supports the merger of both NCPs, said, “No matter how big the person is, he will not be spared, he will be given a befitting reply.”
Meanwhile, several MLAs of the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP, who are worried and confused about the developments in their party, have reached out to Sharad Pawar, the founder of the undivided NCP, seeking his intervention, but so far, there has been no indication about Sharad Pawar’s response, sources said.
However, when Umesh Patil, the Solapur District President of the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP, was asked if there is any truth about his pary’s MLAs reaching out to Sharad Pawar, he replied, “Such rumours are spread by Sharad Pawar-led NCP leaders like Rohit Pawar. There is no question of our party members approaching another party’s leader. Our party is led by Sunetra Pawar and it is she alone who takes all decisions.These speculations are being spread to fuel misunderstanding and confusion within the party. How can a ruling party like ours join an opposition party?”
Umesh Patil also denied reports that senior leaders like Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel were stopped from entering the Delhi office of the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
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