Sunetra Pawar visits Delhi sans senior NCP leaders, party says no rift

The development comes amid speculation of a rift in the NCP only a month after Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected NCP national president, and two months after the death of her husband Ajit Pawar, then NCP chief and deputy chief minister

MUMBAI: NCP chief and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar visited New Delhi on Thursday and met top BJP leaders in the national capital. She was not accompanied by a single senior party leader.

Sunetra Pawar visits Delhi sans senior NCP leaders, party says no rift

The development comes amid speculation of a rift in the NCP only a month after Pawar was unanimously elected NCP national president, and two months after the death of her husband Ajit Pawar, then NCP chief and deputy chief minister.

After unease in the NCP surfaced, Sunetra’s elder son and Rajya Sabha MP Parth went into damage-control mode and issued a statement denying differences among top NCP leaders.

On Thursday, Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, attended the proceedings in Parliament, and called on Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She was accompanied by Sudha Murthy, also a Rajya Sabha member and a philanthropist.

Pawar arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday evening and was hoping to meet prime minister Narendra Modi but was unable to. Accompanying her to Delhi was Parth, who was elected to Rajya Sabha recently.

In his post on social media, Parth said: “Baseless reports and speculative narratives targeting Praful Patel ji and Sunil Tatkare ji are nothing but fiction. Their decades of unwavering commitment and leadership continue to guide us all. Dragging such senior leaders into manufactured controversies is deeply unfortunate and must be called out.”

Parth was reacting to media reports that Pawar was unhappy with both the top leaders – Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare.

Pawar herself has not commented on the controversy and ignored questions on the apparent differences in the NCP leadership when quizzed by the media in Delhi.

She is set to contest the by-election for the Baramati assembly constituency scheduled on April 23. The seat fell vacant following the death of Ajit Pawar, who represented the constituency eight times. Pawar will file her nomination on April 6 and is hoping to win the by-election unopposed.