MUMBAI, November 7 (Aalimi Nation) – Talk of a merger between the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions in Maharashtra has revived after NCP working president Praful Patel met NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar at a Mumbai hospital, where the 85-year-old leader is recovering.
Accounts differ on the timing. One report places the meeting on Friday, while another says Patel visited late on Thursday night at Breach Candy Hospital, where Pawar was admitted with a chest infection. Both agree that the two leaders discussed meeting again on or after November 10.
What Patel said Patel said he went to enquire about Pawar's health and that they spoke only about state politics. He said no merger discussions took place and that he shares strong personal ties with Pawar despite their political differences. Asked about a telephone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pawar, Patel said the Prime Minister was likely checking on the senior leader's health.
Unnamed sources, however, gave a different account of the discussion. They said the meeting centred on a possible merger and that Patel conveyed a message from the Prime Minister. That claim has not been confirmed on the record, and no comment from the Prime Minister's Office or the NCP (SP) leadership was found.
Tatkare's remark Sunil Tatkare, the NCP's Maharashtra president, said on Friday that the two factions would have merged on February 12 had Ajit Pawar been alive. "Ajit dada had told me about the merger discussions and how they would be finalised," he said. Ajit Pawar, who was Deputy Chief Minister, died in a plane crash at Baramati on January 28, and the merger plan stalled.
Tatkare also said there is currently no talk of a merger, but he did not close the door on the future. Sunetra Pawar later became NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister.
Delhi meeting and party sources The Mumbai visit followed a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday in which Patel, Tatkare and other senior NCP leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sunetra Pawar and her sons, Parth and Jay, were not present.
Party sources said some senior leaders are uneasy about the growing prominence of Parth Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member. Other sources said the Patel and Tatkare camp favours a merger and that the BJP would like the NCP (SP) to join the National Democratic Alliance, while Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar oppose the idea. None of these claims has been confirmed on the record by the leaders named, and the NCP (SP) has reportedly denied any internal rift, describing the hospital visit as pre-arranged.
