Some ‘sinned’ when they denied Ajit Pawar wanted merger of both NCPs: Supriya

Pune: NCP state president Sunil Tatkare’s admission that merger talks were underway between the two groups, working president of NCP (SP) Supriya Sule on Tuesday said that some people have ‘sinned’ by refuting her cousin and then NCP chief Ajit Pawar’s efforts on amalgamation.

In the days following the plane crash on Jan 28 where Ajit Pawar died , members of NCP (SP) had said that Ajit Pawar had initiated talks with senior member Jayant Patil for the merger. However, NCP members including Tatkare and national president Praful Patel had refuted these claims.

But in a recent media interaction, Tatkare admitted that Ajit Pawar was involved in the merger talks with the other NCP group.

Supriya, during a media interaction in Pune on Tuesday, said when her party members spoke about the merger plans, their statements were refuted but they were speaking the truth and there were many witnesses to it.

“If a person dies, we speak about his good memories. However, after Ajit dada’s death, some people committed a sin by refuting his efforts on the merger,” the Baramati MP said. She did not name Tatkare.

During the recent civic polls, both NCPs contested in many places in an alliance that Ajit Pawar had taken the lead to forge. It was also a clear indicator that both sides were trying to bridge the gap. However, after his death, the merger talks were put on the back burner. Since the plan has not seen the light of day, candidates of both NCPs are now contesting against each other for the Pune MLC seat.

“Had Ajit dada been alive today, the situation would have been different. Some people now are making a U-turn and admitting that merger talks were underway. However, our side is not interested in such politics,” Supriya added.

War of words with CP still on

The war of words via letters between NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule and Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar continued on Tuesday. In response to his letter to her claim that Pune’s law and order has improved, Supriya on Tuesday wrote to Kumar raising questions.

Following the hooch tragedy in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, Supriya claimed that Pune has become the crime capital of the state and demanded that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis send Kumar on compulsory leave. He wrote back to her with statistics and countered her by stating that the city’s crime rate had declined.

In her response, Supriya said, “The data about crimes in Pune is not mine. I have cited the statistics from the state and Centre’s reports. Therefore, instead of writing to me, the Pune police commissioner should write to Union home minister Amit Shah and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to contest the crime data on Pune.”

Supriya added that while Kumar claims that crime has dipped, there is fear among the people due to the recent firings. She said the police, instead of acting after such events, should prevent them.