A fresh debate has started in Maharashtra politics regarding the possible integration of both the camps of the Nationalist Congress Party. In the last few days, the meetings and public statements between the leaders have again brought this topic into the limelight. Meanwhile, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) working president Supriya Sule made it clear that she has not received any proposal for unification from any party. He also said that talks were going on to bring both the organizations on one platform as long as Ajit Pawar was alive and in the process, Ajit himself was discussing with various leaders.
But this initiative did not move forward after his sudden demise. Sule's statement has raised questions on the speculations that came to light after recent political meetings. Now it has been discussed that when the merger talks were over, then how the meetings and some statements of the leaders made this issue a part of political discussion again.
Sule said, no one gave him the merger proposal
While talking to the media, Supriya Sule was asked about the possibilities of the two NCP factions uniting. He replied that he has not received any proposal in this regard nor has any leader contacted him for such talks.
Sule admitted that during Ajit Pawar's tenure there were discussions between the two parties regarding integration. He also mentioned the meeting held on January 17 at Govindbagh in Baramati, the video of which was to be made public. According to him, the people concerned were aware of the direction in which the talks were progressing at that time. But after the death of Ajit Pawar, circumstances changed and this matter came to an end for him.
Political atmosphere started to develop again due to the meetings of leaders
The recent meetings between the leaders of both the camps are being considered as an important reason behind the revival of merger speculations. Some senior leaders of Ajit Pawar faction had met Sharad Pawar. Apart from this, political activities related to Praful Patel and Parth Pawar also kept this topic in discussion.
Sule refused to consider the leaders' meeting with Sharad Pawar as an unusual incident. He said that maintaining political and family ties is a different thing and it should not be considered as a direct preparation for merger. He also refrained from commenting on the meeting of Sunetra Pawar and NCP leaders with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sule called it an internal matter of the party concerned.
Sunetra Pawar's answer also increased curiosity
When NCP national president Sunetra Pawar was asked about the possible unification of the two factions, she did not directly rule out the possibility. He said that the situation will become clear when the appropriate time comes. After this answer, the discussion intensified in political circles that some talks could be going on behind the scenes.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also said on this subject that the decision to bring both the organizations together will have to be taken by Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar. However, according to him, before taking such a big step, talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party will also be necessary.
Rohit Pawar made serious allegations against BJP
Amidst this entire incident, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar expressed displeasure over the remarks of Chief Minister Fadnavis. He said on social media platform X that as long as his party has an alliance with BJP, the question of merger of the two NCP factions does not arise.
Citing the Mundhwa land dispute in his statement, Rohit Pawar alleged that an attempt was made to put pressure on Ajit Pawar during the Pimpri-Chinchwad elections. He also raised questions as to who was allegedly behind putting him under pressure and who had given the instructions to do so. These allegations have been made by Rohit Pawar; No independent confirmation is given in the source in this regard.
At present the situation regarding integration is not clear
It is clear from Supriya Sule's latest statement that no new proposal or talks have been confirmed by her at present. On the other hand, the earlier answers given by Sunetra Pawar and the meetings of different leaders have not allowed the discussion to calm down completely. In such a situation, the future of both the groups in Maharashtra politics will be closely watched on the activities of the coming days.