Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut raised questions on Saturday about the willingness of Sharad Pawar-led NCP MP Supriya Sule to work under the leadership of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of the BJP, if at all she agrees to unite her party with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Speaking to media persons here, Raut said, “Sharad Pawar’s NCP was built through his own efforts and struggle but the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is a party created by Amit Shah. If Supriya Sule decides to join hands with Ajit Pawar, my question is would Supriya Sule be willing to work under the leadership of Fadnavis and Amit Shah? Will Sharad Pawar accept Amit Shah’s leadership? As far as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is concerned, we will never accept Amit Shah’s leadership”.

Advertisement

“Supriya Sule and I know each other very well. We have close relations. Ajit Pawar has accepted the leadership of Fadnavis and Amit Shah, but will Supriya Sule do the same? That is my question because everything would depend on that,” Raut said, hinting that a merger of the two NCPs may not be easy.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule herself stated that she had not spoken to either her father Sharad Pawar or the party’s Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil about the possibility of the two NCPs joining hands.

Sule’s statement came a day after her father and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said it is up to his daughter Supriya Sule and his estranged nephew Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who leads his own NCP, to decide on any probable merger.

“I was busy with the all-party meeting in Delhi regarding the situation on the country’s borders. I returned yesterday and have not met (Sharad) Pawar Saheb yet. I will meet him first to understand what he said to the press,” Baramati NCP MP Supriya Sule told media persons here.

When asked if she had spoken to any NCP MLAs about the merger issue, Sule said she had not been coordinating with them. “I am responsible for coordinating with MPs in Parliament, and as a team, we are doing a good job. In fact, we are seen as a high-performing team. Whatever we do, we will do it collectively,” she said.

A couple of days ago, a Sharad Pawar NCP MLA, Uttam Jankar, who represents the Malshiras assembly constituency in Solapur district, had made a pitch for merging the Sharad Pawar-led party with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and also joining the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.

Jankar stated that he, along with three other MLAs from the region, had conveyed their views to NCP founder Sharad Pawar.