Sunetra, Parth resist NCP-NCP (SP) merger talks, amid internal efforts to sideline them

Parth Pawar met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday evening – right after senior NCP leaders, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, met the CM earlier this week, fuelling speculation of the reunion, with the BJP’s approval

MUMBAI: Amid growing buzz of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party’s possible merger, NCP chief Sunetra Pawar and her elder son, Rajya Sabha MP Parth Pawar, have resolved to oppose such a move. However, if forced into a merger by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the mother and son will fight to stay in charge. On the other hand, a section of leaders in the party is trying to isolate the mother-son duo by garnering support from a majority of legislators for the merger between NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), said people aware of developments.

Mumbai, India – March 05, 2026: NCP Rajya Sabha candidate Parth Pawar at Vidhan Bhavan to file his Nomination, in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Sunetra Pawar and other Party Leaders, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/ Hindustan Times)

During this volatile period, Parth Pawar met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday evening – right after senior NCP leaders, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, met the CM earlier this week, fuelling speculation of the reunion, with the BJP’s approval. In the meeting, Parth is believed to have sought to know what transpired between the CM and the two NCP leaders. Fadnavis purportedly declined to share any details saying he would discuss the matter with deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar.

“Both the NCP president and her son are firmly opposed to the merger, as they do not want NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and his daughter, Supriya Sule, to regain control of the party,” said a close aide of Sunetra Pawar.

According to sources, BJP is in favour of the merger as it seeks to strengthen its numbers in the Lok Sabha. NCP (SP) has 8 MPs and NCP has 1. “The mother-son duo will try to persuade the BJP’s top leadership to prevent any such development, given their bitter experience in the past with Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule,” he said. “If the merger becomes inevitable, they would want Sunetra Pawar to continue as the party’s national president as well as deputy chief minister.”

Fissures emerged in NCP following the death of its chief Ajit Pawar in an air crash near Baramati on January 28 and his widow, Sunetra Pawar, stepped in to fill the vacuum. These rifts have deepened over a period of time with a section of leaders within the party working to isolate mother and son.

“Parth’s attempt to seize control of the party by forming a team of close aides – and edging out veterans who ran the show with Ajit Pawar -- has led to considerable unease among the MLAs. Many of them have raised doubts about the Sunetra-Parth combine’s ability to lead the party effectively, especially when Mahayuti allies, BJP and Shiv Sena, are run by seasoned politicians such as Fadnavis and Shinde,” said a senior NCP leader.

He added that efforts are underway to garner support from the MLAs for the merger, and pointed out that over time, “several MLAs have spoken in favour of the merger if Sharad Pawar joins the NDA”.

He, however, ruled out any possibility of an immediate coup in the party as “BJP would prefer negotiations between the top brass of both the parties to work out the merger” “The chief minister may play a crucial role in this,” he said, adding that there were no direct talks between the two NCP factions until Friday.

NCP has 41 MLAs while NCP (SP) has 10.

Meanwhile, both factions denied on Friday that any discussion on the merger is currently underway. The national working president of NCP (SP) Supriya Sule said the proposal had been shelved after her cousin Ajit’s death. “When my brother (Ajit Pawar) was alive, a merger was on the table. But after his death, the other side vehemently opposed it. The issue ended there for us,” Sule told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.

On the other hand, while denying any merger talks were on, Maharashtra NCP president Tatkare suggested that “political equations can shift quickly”.

“As of today, there are no talks. But tomorrow, when voting on the Delimitation Bill takes place, we do not know what could happen. Politics changes very fast. We have already seen significant political developments after the assembly elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu,” Tatkare said in New Delhi.