Ajit Pawar-led NCP national president Sunetra gags all merger talk in public

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar was elected unopposed as the national president of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at a meeting on late Monday evening, after senior party leader Praful Patel proposed her name, sources said.

Accordingly, Sunetra Pawar will take official charge at the NCP executive meeting which has been convened on February 26, sources said.

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Meanwhile, the top leadership of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has instructed its MLAs to avoid speaking in public about the issue of a merger of the two NCPs, sources said.

Sources said that the atmosphere at Monday evening’s meeting was tense when the merger issue was discussed. Party leaders and MLAs were instructed not to express their opinion on merger in public, and to express their personal opinions only to Sunetra Pawar, Praful Patel or Sunil Tatkare.

Incidentally, Ajit Pawar-led NCP MLA Hiraman Khoskar had made a public statement on merger in public and Sunetra Pawar and Sunil Tatkare are said to have shut him down at the meeting.

Earlier Ajit Pawar-led NCP MLA Hiraman Khoskar had taken a strong pro-merger stand regarding the merger of the two NCPs. “The merger of both the NCPs should be 100 percent. If we want to pay true tribute to our leader Ajit Pawar, the merger talks that have been going on for two to three months should be completed. We will be happy if that happens,” Khoskar had openly stated a couple of days ago.

According to sources, another strong pro-merger leader Food & Drug Authority Minister Narhari Zirwal is already on the backfoot after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) raided his ministry’s office at the state secretariat building called Mantralaya and sealed it after two of his officials were caught red handed accepting cash bribes.

Zirwal met Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar here on late Monday evening and she clearly expressed her displeasure during the meeting. Sunetra Pawar and senior party leaders have instructed Zirwal to “take care of the image of the the party,” and ensure that administrative officials do not get defamed. Effectively, Zirwal is now no longer in any position to discuss anything about the merger of the two NCPs in public since he has been cornered, sources said.

The only other strong pro-merger leader is Ajit Pawar-led NCP MLA Amol Mitkari who has been openly raising questions embarrassing the government about the January 28 air crash which killed late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at Baramati airstrip.

However, the instructions not to discuss the merger of both NCPs in public will now apply to MLA Amol Mitkari as well, sources said.

Sources said that soon after her unanimous election at the meeting of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP on late Monday evening, Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar addressed her party men and said the party will continue to work for Maharashtra’s welfare and development, which she referred to as her late husband’s dream.

“Ajit Pawar was known for his administrative control and development works. This will remain the NCP’s identity,” national president of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar said.

“The government is committed to the social, economic and cultural upliftment of minorities in the state. The department must continue to function according to the policies laid down by the late Ajit Pawar,” she said.