Amit Shah-Supriya Sule meet renews talk of deal with Sharad Pawar’s party

Amid speculation that the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) might join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Union Home Minister Amit Shah held meetings with leaders of both NCP factions in Delhi on Monday. Shah met NCP (SP) MPs Supriya Sule and Bajrang Sonawane and Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare.

While neither Sule nor Tatkare was available for comment, NCP (SP) MP Sonawane said they met Shah to invite him to the reception of Sule’s daughter, Revati, who recently got married. The reception will be held in Delhi on August 10, Sule’s office said.

The meeting was Sule’s second high‑profile engagement with the BJP in five days. On July 22, she and Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pawar later said in a social media post that the discussion focused on the NEET paper leak and farmers’ demands. After the Cockroach Janta Party agitation was called off, Pawar also claimed credit for advising PM Modi to hold talks with students.