‘You will know at the right time’: Sunetra Pawar amid buzz on merger of NCP factions

Maharashtra deputy CM Sunetra Pawar addressed reporters in Baramati on Wednesday during preparations for Birsa Munda's birth anniversary celebrations.

Amid fresh speculations about a merger between the Sunetra Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), NCP national president and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar commented on the matter for the first time on Wednesday, saying the details would be revealed at an appropriate time.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar pays homage to former Deputy Chief Minister and late husband Ajit Pawar on the occasion of Diwali, in Baramati on Tuesday. (ANI)

Responding to a question about the possibility of the two NCP factions coming together, Pawar told reporters in Baramati, “I know you people are more interested in the other issue. Despite that, I would like to tell you that you will come to understand things when the time comes.”

The deputy chief minister was addressing a press conference regarding programmes being organised by the state government to mark the 191st birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda on November 15. The question about the merger was posed soon after she opened the forum and the media interaction was called off immediately after she responded to it.

The NCP president’s statement came hours after the party’s chief spokesperson Umesh Patil told reporters, “No discussions are currently underway on the merger.” Patil was in Baramati to pay respects at the memorial of former NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who was killed in an air crash on January 28 this year.

Recent meetings fuel merger speculation

Speculations about a merger between the NCP and the NCP (SP) gathered fresh momentum after six senior NCP leaders met union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on November 1, reportedly to convey their support for a merger. Three days later, on November 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sharad Pawar, who was hospitalised in Pune with complaints of chest congestion, to enquire about his health. According to the veteran leader’s close friend in Pune, Vitthal Maniyar, Modi urged Pawar to take complete rest, and said that his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule was ready to take care of the country along with him.

Subsequent parleys involving leaders of the two NCP factions have only strengthened speculations about a merger between the two factions.

Party leaders discuss reunification

On Tuesday, Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare met Sunetra Pawar in Baramati and held a 45-minute discussion in presence of Sunetra’s elder son and the NCP national general secretary Parth Pawar, according to NCP insiders. Parth has, in recent weeks, asserted control over the party by appointing his close aides in important positions, triggering friction with senior leaders over control of the organisation.

While Tatkare was tight-lipped about Tuesday’s meeting with Sunetra and Parth Pawar, on Wednesday, he met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the latter’s official residence, Varsha, NCP insiders said.

Tatkare was part of the six-member NCP delegation that met Shah in Delhi earlier this month. He also publicly acknowledged for the first time on November 6 that merger discussions had taken place and that the two factions would have reunited on February 12 had Ajit Pawar been alive.

“Discussions on the merger of the two NCP factions had indeed taken place. Ajit Dada had personally briefed me on the matter and shared details of the formula agreed upon for the reunification. Had Ajit Dada been alive, the merger of the two factions would have been completed on February 12,” Tatkare told reporters at Sutarwadi in Raigad on Friday.

On Thursday, NCP national working president Praful Patel who was part of the delegation that met Shah, visited the Breach Candy Hospital to inquire about the health of Sharad Pawar, who was recuperating at the hospital. During the meeting, Pawar is learnt to have sought details of the interaction between the NCP leaders and Shah. Patel subsequently told reporters that he would meet Pawar again after his discharge from the hospital.

Sharad Pawar meets party leaders

Since being discharged on Saturday, the 85-year-old NCP founder has been meeting senior party leaders almost daily. He met Parth Pawar twice in a row at his Mumbai residence, Silver Oak, on Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday’s meeting reportedly lasting around two hours. While the NCP said that Parth visited Silver Oak for a family gathering, the Sharad Pawar camp is learnt to be working on an alternative set of formulas to determine the power-sharing arrangement within the reunited party.

On Wednesday, speculation was rife about a group of NCP MLAs seeking an appointment with him. But both sides denied this – Pawar’s office said the veteran leader would not meet anyone during the day while the NCP spokesperson said that no NCP MLA was scheduled to meet Pawar.

Another NCP leader Anil Patil played down the speculation over party MLAs seeking an appointment with Sharad Pawar.

“Sharad Pawar is a senior leader with a national stature. Many MLAs and party workers have worked under him for several years. If he has now recovered and returned home from hospital, I do not think there should be any hesitation in visiting him to enquire about his health,” he said.

However, Rupali Thombre-Patil, an NCP leader from Pune, said that the situation regarding the merger was likely to be clear in two weeks, indicating positive developments.

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