Sharad Pawar denies talks with Sunetra, says party free to decide on oath-taking

Veteran Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar on Saturday said.

There had been no discussion with Sunetra Pawar, wife of late Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, regarding her likely oath-taking, describing it as an internal decision of her faction.

Speaking in Baramati, Sharad Pawar said he was not aware that the oath-taking ceremony had been scheduled. He added that senior leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare belonged to the Ajit Pawar-led faction and had every right to decide their party’s future course of action.

Sharad Pawar also stated that reunification of the two NCP factions had been a long-cherished wish of Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash on Wednesday, and that efforts to bring the party back together had been underway for several months.

“It was Ajit Dada’s wish that the two NCP factions should reunite. We too want his wish to be fulfilled,” Pawar said. He added that Ajit Pawar and senior leader Jayant Patil had been engaged in talks for the past four months and that the discussions had been “positive”.

“Ajit Pawar wanted to announce the merger on February 12. That was his wish,” Sharad Pawar said.

His remarks have lent credence to speculation that reunification efforts were quietly gaining momentum before Ajit Pawar’s untimely death in a plane crash near Baramati. However, his passing has now cast uncertainty over the future of the proposed merger.

According to sources, the ruling Mahayuti alliance decided to offer the deputy chief minister’s post to Sunetra Pawar to retain control over the NCP and prevent any possible reunification. The sources claimed that senior leaders such as Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were not in favour of Sharad Pawar regaining control of the party, prompting the alliance to swiftly move forward with Sunetra Pawar as Ajit Pawar’s political successor.

The sources further said that neither Sharad Pawar nor Supriya Sule is likely to attend the oath-taking ceremony.