Amid speculation, Pawar faction denies possibility of merger with Ajit NCP

MUMBAI: More than a month after the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s debacle in the assembly elections, the rumour mills have gone into overdrive, with speculation rife that the two factions of the NCP are soon to come together. However, people close to Sharad Pawar have strongly denied this as has the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Senior NCP (SP) leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad on Tuesday blamed the media and said that the rumour-mongering was a direct attack on Pawar’s integrity.

Significantly, the NCP (SP) is putting pressure on the NCP to sack its minister Dhananjay Munde for his alleged connection to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh from Massajog village in Beed. The rumour began before the NCP (SP)’s two-day conclave to review the political situation and start preparing for the long-pending local body elections.

Rumours of a possible reconciliation between Pawar and Ajit started doing the rounds for the first time after Ajit made an unscheduled visit to Pawar’s residence in Delhi to wish him on his birthday on December 12. The conjecture got a further boost a week ago when Ajit Pawar’s mother, Asha Pawar, visited the Vitthal temple at Pandharpur and prayed for the reunion of Ajit and his uncle.

“All disputes should end… Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar should reunite,” Asha Pawar told reporters. This was followed by a statement from senior NCP leader Praful Patel, who called Sharad Pawar “our deity”. “We have a high degree of respect for him,” he said. “We will all be extremely happy if the Pawar family comes together. I consider myself a member of the Pawar family.”

The unexpected praise doled out to Devendra Fadnavis by the NCP (SP)’s working president and Baramati MP Supriya Sule also raised eyebrows. “Devendra Fadnavis is in action mode from Day 1,” said Sule last Saturday. “It seems he is the only one who is working proactively. No other minister is active.” The statement was made in the context of Fadnavis’s visit to the Maoist-affected Gadchiroli district where 11 Maoists, including a senior leader, surrendered in his presence.

Sule’s statement surprised many, leading to speculation that something was going on, and there was still a chance of reconciliation between the two NCPs. “There is a section in both the NCPs that wants the factions to come together but it is not possible for Pawar saheb to take such a decision. He always likes to fight and never gives up,” said Pawar’s close aide.

Like its two other allies, the NCP (SP) too faced a drubbing in the state assembly elections. The party could get only 10 seats after contesting 86. This was in contrast with its performance in the Lok Sabha polls, where it won eight of the ten seats it contested.

When questioned on the possibility of a rapprochement, Awhad responded, “This is a media thing, which is a direct attack on Pawar saheb’s integrity. No one has the right to do it.”

NCP spokesperson Suraj Chavan also said that it was difficult for the uncle and nephew to come together politically. “It is the desire of NCP workers that Pawar saheb and Ajit Dada should reunite,” he said. “But it was Pawar saheb who opposed Ajit Dada’s decision to join hands with the BJP. As a family, they can be together, but politically I don’t see them reconciling.”