Political turmoil has once again intensified in Maharashtra politics. The question is arising whether the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are going to unite again? After the death of Ajit Pawar, there are indications of increasing closeness between the group led by his wife Sunetra Pawar and the group of Sharad Pawar. The meetings of the leaders of both the factions, the meeting with Amit Shah and the recent statement of Sunetra Pawar have fueled the speculations of merger.
However, at present no formal proposal of merger has come forward but questions are being raised whether the families and supporters of Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar can come together in one party again? However, on November 10, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the merger cannot happen without our knowledge.
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Why did speculation increase?
Senior NCP leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi without Sunetra and her son Parth Pawar, after which a new round of speculation started. Even after three weeks of the meeting, no leader has publicly revealed what was discussed. Reports also say that in the meeting, concerns over Parth taking unilateral decisions within the party were discussed.
After the meeting, it is understood that Parth has agreed to take advice from senior leaders before taking important decisions. The development has raised questions about the inner workings of the NCP and whether the leadership is considering a large-scale political change.
Split broke out in 2023, then merger discussion intensified
There was a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in July 2023. Ajit Pawar along with his supporting MLAs broke away from Sharad Pawar and joined the Maharashtra government with BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde faction). After this, efforts began to reunite both the groups. According to Sharad Pawar, talks on merger were going on for about four months. Important meetings in this regard were also held on 16 and 17 January 2026.
Moreover, the merger of the two factions was to be announced on 12 February 2026 after the Zilla Parishad elections, but the process was halted after the death of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on 28 January 2026. After the death of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash, this process stopped and the proposed merger was postponed.
who said what?
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar neither accepted nor rejected this possibility. He said that when the right time comes, everyone will get information about it. At the same time, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar opposed the merger and said that there is no question of the two groups uniting while there is an alliance with BJP.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said on November 10 that the merger of the two factions could not happen without his knowledge. On the other hand, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare admitted that Ajit Pawar was working towards uniting the two factions and he was aware of the plan.