Mumbai, Apr 6 (PTI) NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Monday said no fresh discussions are underway regarding the merger of his party and the ruling Nationalist Congress Party, headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Pawar senior reiterated that the issue had been discussed between his late nephew Ajit Pawar, who headed the NCP, and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil in the past.
“Currently, no fresh talks are underway regarding any merger of NCP and NCP (SP),” he said.
Recently, Maharashtra NCP leader Sunil Tatkare had admitted that the two NCP factions deliberated on the prospects of reunification when then Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was alive.
Tatkare also said he was not opposed to the merger talks even as he insisted that the NCP will remain aligned with the BJP-led NDA.
Immediately after Ajit Pawar was killed in the plane crash on January 28, senior leaders of the Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP) claimed that a merger was in the works before the NCP chief died. Leaders of the NCP had then dismissed the claim, stating that no such decision had been taken.
The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999, split when Ajit Pawar joined the Mahayuti alliance with a group of loyalist MLAs in July 2023 and took oath as the Deputy CM.
The Election Commission had recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the original NCP and allowed the party to retain the original poll symbol, a clock. PTI MR NSK
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