Sunil Tatkare revives NCP merger buzz, hints ball is in Sharad Pawar’s court

The NCP had split in 2023, when the late Ajit Pawar broke away with a majority of MLAs to join the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. However, since his death in an aircraft crash in January, there has been persistent speculation about the two NCPs reuniting. This has played out amid a buzz about Sunetra facing pushback from the old guard as she and her sons try to assert control over the organisation.

“Both parties discussed the merger when Ajit Pawar was alive. We would have supported the merger decision taken by him. But after his death, the talks stopped. Their (NCP-SP) leaders later, at their state-level programme, announced that the issue of merger is over for them. If the talks start again, only then can we tell our opinion,” Tatkare said, hinting that it was up to Sharad Pawar’s party to kickstart the discussions.

This is the first time a senior NCP leader has publicly acknowledged that the merger of the two parties was set to happen and that Ajit Pawar was on board with it. The day after Ajit Pawar’s death, The Indian Express reported that the two NCPs were set to make the reunification announcement on February 8 before tragedy struck. The talks were at an advanced stage at the time and leaders from the two sides were preparing the ground for a formal reunification following the Zilla Parishad election results.

‘Did not meet Jayant Patil’

Asked about the meeting at Varsha, Tatkare said, “We had gone to discuss work related to our constituency. We did not meet Jayant Patil there.”

The NCP state president, however, denied reports of a rift with Sunetra Pawar. “I had a very good equation with Ajit dada and I share the same with Sunetra vahini (sister-in-law). There is no question of miscommunication or her being upset with me for anything,” he said.

Sources, however, said that at a meeting with Tatkare on Wednesday morning, the Deputy CM expressed her unhappiness at being kept out of the loop about the meeting at the CM’s home. Tatkare told Sunetra that he and Patel met Fadnavis after coming to know that the NCP(SP) might support the Delimitation Bill. They wanted to ensure there was no miscommunication between the CM and their party, Tatkare is learnt to have told the Deputy CM. “She asked why neither of the two thought it was important to let her know in advance about it,” a source said.

Divided into two camps

The NCP increasingly looks fractured, with one group clinging on to the Pawars — Sunetra and her sons — because they are the ones at the helm and in power and the other feeling sidelined following the emergence of Parth Pawar, the Deputy CM’s elder son. Sources close to Sunetra Pawar have hinted that Parth is looking to replace Tatkare with one of the MLAs from north Maharashtra, while Tatkare has openly maintained that he will continue to head the party in the state.

The party has also decided it will not respond to the legal notice from its national secretary Sachchidanand Singh challenging Sunetra’s appointment as NCP national president. “It is unnecessary to even respond to it. If there is any malafide intention behind sending this notice, let that be out in the open after we decide not to respond to it,” said a source close to the Pawars.

The infighting and lack of communication in the NCP have left the organisation hamstrung, with several key appointments kept on hold. The party does not have presidents for the youth and women’s wings. It has also failed to appoint a new chairperson for the state Women’s Commission following the resignation of Rupali Chakankar. The finance portfolio that it had been assured of also appears to be out of reach at the moment, with no developments on that front. Ajit Pawar used to hold the portfolio, but after his death the department’s responsibility was taken up by Fadnavis.

Murmurs among the MLAs also indicate that the merger of the two NCPs could energise the party, but no one has officially raised the matter with the leadership. Sources informed that unless the Pawar family reaches a consensus on the leadership issue, things are unlikely to move forward. Several members of the next generation of the Pawar family — Parth, Jay (Sunetra’s younger son), Rohit (son of Ajit Pawar’s cousin Rajendra), and Yugendra (Ajit Pawar’s nephew) — have entered politics, while Sunetra is the Deputy CM and Supriya Sule is the Baramati MP and a key figure in her father Sharad Pawar’s party.