No merger talks without BJP being on board: NCP

NCP leaders state any merger decision with NCP (SP) requires BJP's input, countering CM Fadnavis's dismissal of talks amid ongoing political dynamics.

MUMBAI: In the evolving narrative of a merger between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and NCP (SP), senior leaders of the Ajit Pawar-led faction said on Monday that any decision on the matter will be taken when the party’s ruling ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is brought on board. The leaders expressed their claim a day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis rubbished the talks of merger.

No merger talks without BJP being on board: NCP.

Fadnavis had said on Sunday: “NCP takes its own decisions. However, had any such discussion taken place, Ajit dada would have informed me. The party is in power with us as part of Mahayuti.”

In an informal interaction with a group of journalists at his residence Silver Oak on Monday, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, responded to Fadnavis’s statement saying, “How would those who were not at the meetings (on the merger) know what had transpired.”

Reacting to Pawar’s statement, top NCP leaders insisted that BJP will be a part of any decision on the merger, adding that if NCP (SP) was willing to take the talks ahead, they would have to accept Sunetra Pawar’s leadership. Sunetra is the late Ajit Pawar’s wife, who was sworn in as deputy chief minister in his place on Saturday.

“Jayant Patil spoke to me about discussions on the merger, but I did not hear it from my own leader. We will have to take the BJP’s opinion on the matter,” he said.

According to NCP insiders, the party’s present stance on the merger was a consequence of NCP (SP) speaking about a reunion within hours of Ajit Pawar’s plane crash on January 28. “They were the first to start politics on the issue. The message was clear, which led to our stand that NCP’s leadership remain with Ajit dada’s family,” said a senior NCP functionary.

‘Merger talks initiated by dada’

Meanwhile, NCP (SP) has threatened to reveal all the details related to prior meetings on the merger between the two factions. Senior NCP (SP) leader and former home minister Anil Deshmukh said, “We are in mourning right now. Once this period is over, I will furnish all the details about the meetings – where they were held, how long each meeting lasted and what was decided.”

Another NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad corroborated: “The merger talks were initiated by Ajit dada himself. In my last conversation with him, he assured me saying, ‘trust me, I will fix everything’.”