'Will let you know if signal is green': Strong buzz around merger of 2 NCPs after Ajit Pawar’s interview

PUNE: Speculation about the merger of both NCP groups gained momentum on Friday after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, in an interview to NDTV, said party workers from both sides are in favour of the union and that the friction within the Pawar family has been resolved.

The two NCP groups, one led by Ajit Pawar and the other by his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar, are in the opposite camps in the Centre and at the state, but have formed an alliance for contesting the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.




And, for the first time since the split in the NCP in July 2023, Ajit Pawar and his cousin Supriya Sule, working president of NCP (SP), will share the stage on Saturday for a ‘common political programme’ to release a combined NCP manifesto for the Jan 15 Pune Municipal Corporation and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation polls.

We are coming together for Pune’s devpt: Supriya

While Ajit Pawar did not respond to messages or calls made to him, Supriya told TOI , “Yes, after the split, we are coming together for the first time for a joint political event, but this is for the development of Pune. At the moment, the alliance is only for the elections in PMC and PCMC. Let us see what happens next.”

According to NDTV, Ajit Pawar told its reporter on Friday that workers of both the parties want the two groups to reunite and that all tensions in the Pawar family have ended.

The deputy chief minister has been evading a direct answer to the possibility of a merger of the two NCPs ever since the groups announced last month that they would join hands to contest the civic polls in Pune, Pawar’s home district.

Last fortnight, at an event in Pimpri, when Ajit Pawar was asked by reporters if he has given a “green signal” to the merger of the two NCP's, he replied, “I will let you know if the signal is green, yellow or is red tomorrow.” He did not elaborate.

Last week, when Ajit Pawar was addressing a press conference in Pimpri, a reporter pointed out to him about his and Sharad Pawar’s photo displayed on the same banner installed at the press conference venue.

“Will these two photos remain permanent on NCP’s banner in future?” the reporter sought to know.

Ajit Pawar’s one-liner in Marathi was, “Tuzya tondat sakhar pado (May your words come true).” Here too, he did not expand.

On Thursday, Maharashtra NCP chief Sunil Tatkare told reporters in Sambhajinagar that he had no personal objection to the possible merger of the two NCP groups. He, however, added that any such decision would have to be taken collectively by the party brass.