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NCP's Praful Patel rejects reports of his appointment as party chief: ‘Totally baseless’
Patel said that the NCP is a “democratic institution” and that such a decision would only be taken with the consultation of the senior party leadership.
Nationalist Congress Party MP Praful Patel on Sunday responded to reports claiming that he had been appointed the party president.
While calling the reports “totally baseless”, Patel said that the NCP is a “democratic institution” and that such a decision would only be taken with the consultation of the senior party leadership.
“I have noted few reports circulating in the media regarding my appointment as the National President of the Nationalist Congress Party. I wish to state with absolute clarity that these reports are totally baseless and lack any truth,” Patel said in a post on social media platform X.
“The Nationalist Congress Party is a democratic institution. A decision of this magnitude will only be made by consulting our senior leadership and MLAs, engaging with our dedicated party office-bearers, and respecting the sentiments and collective will of all our party members,” the NCP working president said, adding that the party follows “established process in these matters.”
The reports came amid ongoing speculation regarding a merger between the two split factions – NCP and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), after the death of former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Baramati earlier this week.
On Saturday, Ajit's wife and NCP Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar took oath as the deputy CM of Maharashtra, thus becoming the first woman to take over the post in the state.
Later the same day, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar refused speculations of a merger between the two party factions. When asked whether he would consider being part of the National Democratic Alliance if a merger between the two NCP factions does go through, ANI cited Sharad Pawar as saying, “This is all going on your side (media), there is nothing like that here.”
After her oath-taking, Sunetra Pawar returned to Baramati in Pune late at night, while Sharad Pawar left for Mumbai from Baramati on Sunday morning. The NCP (SP) chief has no scheduled programmes in Mumbai, according to PTI news agency.
