Aaditya Thackeray Signals End To NCP Reunion Talks

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday indicated that efforts to reunite the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have been called off. The MLA said his party decided to support Sharad Pawar’s candidature for the Rajya Sabha after Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil met Uddhav Thackeray at his residence, ‘Matoshree’, and clarified their stand.

Mr. Pawar filed his nomination for a Rajya Sabha seat on Thursday with all alliance partners formally endorsing his candidature. While the filing witnessed a show of strength, with leaders such as Bhaskar Jadhav (Shiv Sena-UBT), Satej Patil (Congress) and MP Supriya Sule in attendance, the absence of Aaditya Thackeray had sparked speculation in political circles.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP (SP) — is expected to win only one of the seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra. Aaditya Thackeray had earlier argued that the seat should go to his party. His absence during the filing of the nomination had fuelled speculation that he was unhappy with the decision to give the seat to the NCP (SP).

However, Mr. Thackeray said he could not attend the nomination filing as he was not in Mumbai. “I was in Udaipur when Mahayuti made the preliminary announcement. I am not upset. I could not attend the filing yesterday due to a pre-scheduled family commitment — Arjun Tendulkar’s wedding,” he said.

The MLA clarified that he was not opposed to Mr. Pawar’s candidature but had insisted on the seat in the interest of his party. “I had no personal motive. It was my opinion that this Rajya Sabha seat should have gone to Shiv Sena (UBT). Given the current arithmetic, if we miss this opportunity now, it will be difficult for the Shiv Sena to secure a seat until 2029. With the vote quota expected to rise in 2028, claims from various aspirants could create further complications. I presented these facts before the party chief and during alliance meetings,” he said.

Sources said Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders were uneasy about speculation surrounding a possible reunion of the two NCP factions and wanted assurance from the Sharad Pawar-led party that it would not join the NDA in the event of a merger with the faction led by Ajit Pawar.

“The final call was taken only after Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule held discussions with Uddhav Thackeray. There was considerable confusion regarding a possible reunion of the two NCP factions. Uddhavji agreed to support Mr. Pawar after receiving clarity on the matter,” Aaditya Thackeray said.