NEW DELHI: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said only NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar could clarify whether the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would merge, asserting that neither had discussed any such proposal with the BJP.“If they (Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar) decide to merge, they will come and tell us, because the merger cannot happen without us. Neither of them has told us anything yet,” Fadnavis told reporters on the sidelines of a Diwali gathering at his official residence, Varsha, in Mumbai.The remarks come amid renewed speculation over a possible reunion of the two NCP factions after several leaders of the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP, including Praful Patel and Parth Pawar, met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar last week.Sharad Pawar was recently hospitalised with a chest infection.‘Unfair to compare Sunetra Pawar with Ajit Pawar’Asked to compare Sunetra Pawar’s leadership with that of her late husband Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis said such a comparison would be unfair, noting that Ajit Pawar had decades of political experience and a deep understanding of Maharashtra.
“Ajit Dada was a leader who had been tested over time. He had an immense understanding of Maharashtra and a deep knowledge of the state. Sunetra Pawar is now adapting to the situation. Comparing her with Ajit Dada would be unfair,” he said.The chief minister added that other senior NCP leaders were collectively managing the party.Ajit Pawar, who was the deputy chief minister and NCP president, died in an air crash on January 28. Sunetra Pawar subsequently took over as the party’s president and became deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti government, which comprises the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.