No proposal of merger of two NCPs, says Sunil Tatkare

Tatkare added, “There hasn’t even been a basic idea or discussion regarding a merger. Therefore, there’s no question of being in favour, against, or neutral about it. Since there’s no proposal, the question of a merger doesn’t arise. We are currently functioning with our original ideology within the NDA, and our political journey will continue under the leadership of the country’s strong Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. There’s no reason for any change in that.”

Earlier in May, in an interview with The Indian Express, NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar had acknowledged internal divisions within his party over questions of reuniting with Ajit Pawar’s faction. “There are two views in the party. One is that we reunite with the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. The second is that we don’t go directly or indirectly with the BJP. Let us join the INDIA group and reorganise the alliance,” Sharad Pawar had said. Since then the talks about the merger between two parties gained momentum. However, the ruling NCP has been consistently denying any such moves. The opposition NCP(SP) leaders have maintained silence on the matter, adding that only Sharad Pawar is authorised to talk on the issue.

Addressing Express Adda on Wednesday, BJP leader Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that he admires many qualities of Sharad Pawar, especially his consistency in the political sphere. “Irrespective of win or loss, Sharad Pawar is always active. His consistency is one of the qualities which I admire,” Fadnavis said.

Meanwhile, Tatkare referred to events of 2014, saying, “Even back then, we had held several discussions regarding forming a government with the BJP. Some decisions had even reached advanced stages, but no final call was taken. So today’s stand and the merger issue are two entirely different things. There is no point in saying that me or Prafulbhai (Praful Patel) are opposed to it, because there’s no proposal at all. If you have any information about such a proposal, please tell me – I’ll look for it with a telescope,” he added.

He emphasised that, while his voice carries weight in the party, the decision to join the government was a collective one taken by leaders like Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif and Dhananjay Munde – backed by party MLAs and the people of the state.

“There were doubts about our survival post- Lok Sabha elections, but the people of Maharashtra have answered those questions. As the State President, I believe it would be inappropriate to speak on hypothetical issues. Let there be a concrete proposal first, then we’ll talk. But discussing something that doesn’t even exist has no meaning. So now, it seems we’ll have to search for these so-called ‘sources’ of media reports,” he said.