Ajit Pawar’s Death Casts Shadow on NCP Merger Plans: Sharad Pawar

Sharad Pawar stated on Saturday that the death of Ajit Pawar may now pose a challenge to the merger of the NCP (SP) and NCP.

Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was killed along with four others after a Learjet 45 aircraft they were travelling in crashed at Baramati, his hometown here, on January 28.

The NCP (SP) president told reporters in Baramati that Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil had been leading the process to unite the two groups for the previous four months.

"All discussions were held at their level, but it now appears the process may hit a roadblock following the (plane) accident. The talks were progressing in a positive direction, but the accident adversely affected the process," the former Union minister said.

Efforts were being made to establish cordial dialogue between the two factions, he added.

Asked whether the merger process would continue, Sharad Pawar said he did not know as he was not part of these discussions.

"It was Ajit's wish to unite the two factions, and now it is our wish that his wish should be fulfilled," Pawar said.

"We cannot bring Ajit back. We have lost him. Now we have to see how to face the situation," the NCP (SP) chief asserted.

Sharad Pawar said a consensus had been reached about both factions working together, and the process had already begun.

"The decision on the merger was supposed to be announced on February 12. Ajit had given this date, but unfortunately, the accident took place," he added.

While his uncle Sharad Pawar (85) was in good health, Ajit Pawar had also informed a few journalists that he planned to unite his party with the NCP (SP) during the last civic elections, when the two sides ran in cooperation.

Following their joint participation in the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad city elections on January 15, the two groups agreed to maintain their alliance for the Zilla Parishad elections the following month.

Sharad Pawar created the NCP in 1999, but it broke up after Ajit Pawar joined the Mahayuti government led by Eknath Shinde in July 2023. At the time, he was named deputy chief minister, a position he held till Devendra Fadnavis took over as chief minister after the assembly elections in November 2024.

Sharad Pawar also told reporters that the NCP (SP) didn't know about the swearing-in of Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar as deputy chief minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government.

"I am not aware of the swearing-in. I didn't even know that it was scheduled for today. There was no discussion with me about the swearing-in. Her party (NCP) may have made the decision. The names of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare came up, and it is learnt that they took the initiative. They might have taken a decision internally within the party," he said.

Sunetra Pawar (62) was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

She was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a brief ceremony at Lok Bhavan here. Earlier in the day, she was elected as the state NCP legislature party leader.