Amid NCP reunion buzz, Sharad Pawar at Sunetra's residence, pays tribute to Ajit Pawar

The senior NCP leader offered floral tributes to his late nephew in the presence of other family members, including Ajit Pawar's sons Parth and Jay

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday visited Maharashtra deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar's residence in Baramati to pay his respects to his nephew Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash last week.

NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar, during the tribute ceremony of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at Sunetra Pawar's residence, in Baramati (ANI)

The elder Pawar offered floral tributes to Ajit Pawar in the presence of several members of the Pawar family.

The visit to Sunetra's residence comes amid speculations over an NCP reunion, talks of which have been underway for months now.

Sharad Pawar reached Baramati late Tuesday night and visited Sahyog Society in the town, where a condolence meeting had been scheduled following the sudden death of Ajit Pawar, news agency PTI reported.

However, there was no word on whether Sharad Pawar had a meeting with Sunetra, who took over as the deputy CM, following her husband's death.

The senior NCP leader offered floral tributes to his late nephew in the presence of other family members, including Ajit Pawar's sons Parth and Jay, and MLA Rohit Pawar.

This visit comes a few days after Sunetra Pawar took oath as the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on Saturday. Following the oath-taking, Sharad Pawar had expressed happiness over the top post being given to her.

Earlier in the day, closed-door meetings were held between the 85-year-old leader, Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar's sons Parth and Jay on the premises of Vidya Pratishtan, an educational institute, in Baramati. The meeting reportedly lasted for one and a half hours, and there was no official word on the details of the meeting.

The discussions could have centred on the possibility of the merger of the two NCP factions and the upcoming Zila Parishad elections, the sources said.

On January 28, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district. Days later, his wife Sunetra Pawar took oath as deputy CM.

Following the death of Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar and leaders of his party have claimed that merger talks between the two parties were in advanced stages and that the late deputy CM had finalised February 12 as the date to announce the reunification of the NCP factions.

Earlier today, speaking to the reporters, Sharad Pawar said that NCP leader Jayant Patil and NCP chief Ajit had been leading the merger talks.

Meanwhile, another claim emerged from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who claimed that if the merger talks were really in progress, then Ajit Pawar would have shared the details with him.

(With inputs from PTI)