In a significant development in Maharashtra politics, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday dismissed claims that his party is set to merge with the Congress. The development comes after senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP would soon merge with the Congress soon, stating that meetings with the party high command in Delhi were underway regarding this.
Sharad Pawar quashes merger speculations
However, Sharad Pawar has now quashed all such speculation and stated that there is neither going to be a split in his party nor a merger with the Congress. Sharad Pawar’s faction in May this year had ruled out any possibility of a merger with Ajit Pawar’s group, maintaining that the two sides had taken different political paths.
It is worth mentioning here that Sharad Pawar broke away from the Congress and formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 1999 and later in 2023, Sharad Pawar's nephew, Ajit Pawar, did the same to him by splitting his NCP.
Later, Ajit Pawar led a faction of MLAs to join the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, dividing the regional political party into two distinct factions.
What reports said about merger with Congress?
The reports about talks of a possible merger with the Congress came amid recent political setbacks for regional satraps like Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray, whose MPs recently decided to form separate groups, leaving their parent parties.
Other reports suggested that discussions at the senior leadership level in New Delhi over a merger of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP with the Congress were in the final stages and progressed positively. However, Sharad Pawar denied all such claims.
The possibility of a Congress-NCP (SP) merger was discussed before the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, however, the discussions, were put on hold due to the election campaign.
No MP from NCP-SP would defect to rival faction: Sharad Pawar
Last month, Sharad Pawar and the party's working president Supriya Sule asserted that no MP from their party would defect to the rival faction. They were responding to NCP MLA Dharmarao Atram's claim that five of the eight MPs of Sharad Pawar's party were ready to cross over to the Nationalist Congress Party led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar by December. "Not a single MP or MLA will defect," Sharad Pawar told reporters.
Sule, Lok Sabha member from Baramati, said all eight MPs of the NCP (SP) were with the party. "Atram might be knowing more. I do not have any idea. We eight MPs were united yesterday, are united today and will remain united tomorrow. If Baba Atram has a list of five MPs, he should disclose the names," she said.
"If he has a list of five MPs, why is he not poaching me? Why is he sparing me?" she quipped. Atram's claim came amid six MPs of the Shiv Sena (UBT), an ally of Sharad Pawar's party in Maharashtra, crossing over to the ruling Shiv Sena headed by Eknath Shinde.
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