Supriya & NCP (SP) state chief lay to rest merger talks, quell uncertainty in party

Pune/Mumbai: NCP (SP) on Wednesday said that the party has ended any possibility of a merger with the other NCP group. State NCP (SP) chief Shashikant Shinde said that his party will not discuss it anymore.

Senior NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare called on NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar recently, reigniting talk of a merger between the parties. However, the party’s working president Supriya Sule made it clear that a merger was not on the cards. She told TOI, “All talks of a merger stopped on the day my brother (Ajit Pawar) died.”

She said that the party was firming up plans to face key issues like price-rise, the NEET paper leak and the fuel crisis, as part of the opposition.

The no-merger decision was announced following the meeting of the party’s elected representatives and other senior office bearers chaired by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pawar is expected to meet district-level office bearers next week.

Shinde said, “In the meeting, we clearly told our party members that the merger matter is over for us. We have decided to move on and strengthen our party base,” he added.

Most senior NCP (SP) members attended Tuesday’s meeting but Pawar’s grandnephew and Karjat Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar stayed away. His absence led to speculation that he was angry about some issues in the party.

He said on X, “The news being aired on some channels about me being angry is baseless. We were workers operating under the guidance of Pawarsaheb yesterday and we remain so even today.”

Rohit was in Pune where he visited the irrigation department office. He said that he wanted to draw attention to the poor water supply to his constituency from Kukadi irrigation circle. He added on X, “However, the issue of water from Junnar-Shirur for the farmers in my constituency and in Baramati became crucial so I had to suddenly come to the Irrigation Bhavan to resolve it. Had there not been pressure on the administration and had they kept their word to release the water, I could have attended the pre-scheduled meeting in Mumbai today instead of coming to the Irrigation Bhavan in Pune.”

According to senior NCP (SP) members, there has been growing uncertainty within the party ever since the discussion on merger possibilities with NCP began on open platforms.

“Some members thought that if both factions merge, there will be competition within our party for every seat and some may not get a chance to contest elections in the future. The party’s leadership also got information that some have started exploring their futures with other political parties. Therefore, it became quite crucial for the leadership to clear the air and bring back confidence,” a senior NCP member told TOI.

On the speculation that the party may join the NDA, Shinde said that NCP (SP) will remain in the opposition. “The meeting decided that the party will undertake statewide agitations to raise various issues concerning the people. We intend to be more aggressive about issues,” he added. Shinde said that the MVA alliance will collectively visit parts of the state after Aug 15.

Rohit said some opposition members have not been raising issues of public concern. “While people are facing several problems, some are making statements on social media. They are not agitating on the ground,” he told reporters.