Sunetra Pawar Declines to Confirm NCP Merger, Says Clarity Will Come in Time

Deputy CM Withholds Comment on Reunion Talks

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, who also heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has stopped short of addressing whether the two rival NCP groups may reunite. Speaking at a press event on Wednesday, she indicated that the question would be resolved in due course, even as reporters pressed her on the matter.

The remarks were made at a briefing called to outline plans for the 191st birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, which falls on November 15. When the floor opened to questions, a reporter raised the prospect of a merger, and Pawar sidestepped it, noting that the public seemed more interested in that topic than in the event she was there to discuss.

Meetings and Mixed Signals

The speculation has been fuelled by a series of meetings. Senior NCP figures gathered with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi in recent days, though Sunetra Pawar and her son, Lok Sabha MP Parth Pawar, were absent. Separately, some NCP leaders, Parth Pawar among them, visited Sharad Pawar, the head of the rival NCP (SP). Those involved described the visits as inquiries after his health, adding that political questions had not come up.

The momentum picked up last week when senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare said that the late Ajit Pawar had backed the idea of reuniting the two groups. Tatkare told reporters that Ajit Pawar had briefed him on a formula for the reunification and that the merger would have been finalised on February 12 had Ajit Pawar lived. Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on January 28, and Tatkare said talks stalled after that.

Government Position

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that any decision rested with Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar. He stressed that a merger could not proceed without the ruling alliance being consulted, and that neither leader had yet conveyed a proposal to the government.

Opposition Claims

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut added a further layer on Wednesday, claiming that 20 to 22 MLAs from Sunetra Pawar’s faction could leave at any point. He argued that a return to the Sharad Pawar-led party would not amount to a merger, and suggested that some legislators might instead align with another party ahead of the polls. Raut also said that NCP legislators had been left with little autonomy since Ajit Pawar’s death, and he disputed Fadnavis’s assertion that the BJP’s consent was required for any reunion.

Background

The NCP split into two rival groups, with one led by Sunetra Pawar following her husband’s death and the other by Sharad Pawar. Reunion talks have circulated for some time, but no official announcement has been made by either side. Raut also criticised the contested election for chairman of the Gokul Dairy, which was won by NCP leader Rajesh Patil, a candidate of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, calling the process damaging to democracy.

What Next

Sunetra Pawar has said the situation will become clear with time, and no date has been set for any formal decision. For now, the merger question remains open, with the outcome dependent on the two leaders and the ruling alliance.