Rohit Pawar accuses Fadnavis of 'arrogance of power' over NCP merger remarks

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Thursday criticised Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over his statement on a possible merger of the two NCP factions. Pawar alleged that the statement showed the "arrogance" of those in power.

Fadnavis had said on Tuesday that whether the two parties would unite again could be answered only by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, who lead the two factions. He had also said that any merger would require taking the BJP into confidence, since it leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

In a post on X, Rohit Pawar said the chief minister's words reflected the "arrogance" that comes with being in power.

In the post, he referred to the Mundhwa land deal and the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation election. He claimed that an attempt was made to "blackmail" his late uncle Ajit Pawar over the issue. He alleged that Ajit Pawar did not bow to the BJP.

Rohit Pawar asked in his post, "Who was blackmailing Ajitdada, and who gave the order to blackmail?"

He went on to say that the politics of the BJP and its leaders, by his claim, rests on "blackmail", and that they should therefore not comment on efforts to bring the two NCP factions together.

The Mundhwa case concerns a deal for about 40 acres of government land in Mundhwa, an upscale area of Pune. The land was bought for about Rs 300 crore by Amadea Enterprises LLP. Rajya Sabha member Parth Pawar holds a large stake in the company.

The deal came under scrutiny after allegations of undervaluation and irregularities in payment of stamp duty. Claiming an exemption, the company had paid only Rs 500 as stamp duty. Officials later asked it to pay the shortfall of about Rs 21 crore along with a penalty. An appeal against that order was dismissed in April 2026. An FIR has also been registered against several people in connection with the deal.

Speculation about a merger of the two NCP factions has intensified since Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on January 28. His wife, Sunetra Pawar, then became the NCP national president and Maharashtra's deputy chief minister.

Speculation grew further after senior leaders from her faction, Praful Patel and Parth Pawar, met Sharad Pawar. On Wednesday, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare and party leader Dhananjay Munde met Fadnavis. The meeting came amid fresh talk of a merger and reports of a demand for the finance portfolio, which is currently held by the chief minister.