Mumbai: Amid renewed speculation over a possible merger of the two NCP factions, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that 20 to 22 legislators from the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP could break away and either return to Sharad Pawar’s faction or join other political parties ahead of the next elections.
The Rajya Sabha MP stated that NCP legislators have felt marginalized (“reduced to being slaves”) following Ajit Pawar’s passing and that their ongoing meetings with NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar are politically significant rather than casual.
Calling the Ajit Pawar’s NCP as Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s party, Raut said, Raut claimed that following the death of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, NCP legislators had been reduced to “being slaves.”
“Ajit Pawar’s leadership is no longer there. In a sense, the MLAs are being forced into slavery; they have to mortgage their self-respect. In such situation, they will either return to Sharad Pawar’s faction or join other political parties before the next elections.”
Raut remarked that if these legislators return to Sharad Pawar’s faction, it will be their homecoming. “It would not technically be a merger,” he added.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar declined to confirm or deny the reunion and merger talks during a press conference in Baramati, stating that things would become clear with time.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has noted that an NCP merger could not happen without consulting the BJP, a condition Raut dismissed as inapplicable to Sharad Pawar’s party.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that only Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar could clarify whether the two factions would merge. He also maintained that any such move would require consultation with the BJP, which is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
“If they 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 said.
The merger speculation resurfaced amid discontent within Sunetra Pawar’s NCP. Several senior leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi as differences grew over how Sunetra and her son Parth Pawar were running the party.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
