Fadnavis Has No Right To Comment on NCP Merger Talks: Sharad Pawar
Pawar insists Ajit Pawar discussed reunification only with party leaders
Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar on Wednesday reiterated that the late Ajit Pawar had been keen on a merger of the two NCP factions, asserting that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had “no right” to comment on the issue. Mr. Pawar said Ajit Pawar had held discussions with senior leader Jayant Patil, countering Mr. Fadnavis’s claim that the former Deputy Chief Minister would have taken him into confidence had any such move been imminent.
After Ajit Pawar’s death, leaders of the Sharad Pawar-led faction had claimed that merger talks were at an advanced stage and that February 12 had been finalised to announce the reunification. Dismissing the claims, Mr. Fadnavis had said Ajit Pawar never informed him of any such plan.
“If the discussions had reached any final stage, Ajit Dada would have told us (BJP). Had any date been fixed, he would have informed us. He was part of our government; could he take such a decision without sharing these matters with us? I have no idea what talk he had with Sharad Pawar. As far as we are concerned, we have no information regarding any such date,” the Chief Minister had said earlier.
Responding to the remarks, Mr. Pawar said, “I don’t think the Chief Minister has any right to mention me. He was nowhere in the merger discussions. My colleagues, Jayant Patil and Ajit Pawar, were discussing it. There is nothing more to it than that.”
The former Union minister said this was not the time to engage in political discussions. “Right now is the time to support family members. We are not discussing political issues with anyone,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Pawar held a closed-door meeting with Ajit Pawar’s sons, Parth and Jay, at Vidya Pratishthan, an educational institution in Baramati. The meeting lasted about one and a half hours. Reports suggested that the discussion revolved around a proposal to build Ajit Pawar’s memorial on the Vidya Pratishthan premises. However, Mr. Pawar dismissed the speculation.
“I am not aware of any memorial for Ajit Pawar being built in Baramati. I am the chairman of the institution whose land is being discussed; at the very least, I should have been informed. No such discussion has taken place. We will sit together and decide what needs to be done, but it is not appropriate to comment on something that does not exist,” he said.
