NEW DELHI: Maharashtra deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sunetra Pawar on Wednesday sidestepped a question on the possible merger of the party’s two factions, saying a decision would become clear at the “appropriate time”.“I know all of you are more interested in a different issue at present. However, today’s subject is entirely different. Things (about the merger) will be known when the time comes,” she told reporters in Baramati, the Pawar family’s political stronghold.The NCP, co-founded by veteran politician Sharad Pawar in 1999, split in July 2023 after his nephew, Ajit Pawar, broke away and joined the BJP-led ruling coalition in Maharashtra. The Election Commission subsequently recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the “real” NCP, while the Sharad Pawar-led group was named the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).In January, the two factions contested the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections in alliance, fuelling speculation about a possible merger. However, Ajit Pawar’s death in a private plane crash later that month cast uncertainty over the prospects of reunification.Speculation about a possible merger gathered momentum last week after several NCP leaders, including Ajit and Sunetra Pawar’s son Parth and senior NCP leader Praful Patel, met Sharad Pawar, who was recently hospitalised with a chest infection.
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A video that went viral showed Sharad Pawar and Patel discussing a possible meeting after November 10.NCP state president Sunil Tatkare also claimed last week that the merger would have taken place in February if Ajit Pawar had not died.Ajit Pawar, who was Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and NCP president, died in a private plane crash on January 28. Sunetra Pawar subsequently took over as the party’s president and became deputy chief minister in the BJP-led Maharashtra government, which also includes the Shiv Sena.(With PTI inputs)