Sunetra Pawar's office calls NCP MLAs on merger after Sanjay Raut's claim of defections

Talk of a merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party factions, the Sharad Pawar group and the Ajit Pawar group, is gathering pace. Senior leaders of both factions are reportedly in touch with each other, and talks on a merger are said to be under way on both sides.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut, MP of the Thackeray faction, made a major claim. Raut said that 20 to 22 MLAs of Sunetra Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could leave the party at any time. The statement is said to have caused a stir in the Ajit Pawar group.

It is learnt that in the past two days, following Raut's statement, calls were made from the office of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar to all the party's MLAs. The calls to Assembly members are said to be an attempt to learn their stand on current developments in the party. The significance of these developments grew when Raut claimed that 22 MLAs were in touch with Sharad Pawar's party.

An MLA, speaking on condition of anonymity, said legislators were being asked a few questions over the phone. What is your opinion on a merger of the two NCP parties? Does a merger seem right? Has Sharad Pawar's NCP actually contacted you? The MLAs' views are being sought through these questions.

The question now being asked is whether the talk of a merger has also set off activity in Sunetra Pawar's office. Political circles are watching what is on the minds of the party's MLAs and what political direction these calls will set.

In his statement, Raut had said: "The 20-22 MLAs of Sunetra Pawar's, that is Amit Shah's, Nationalist Congress Party will walk out at any time. They are in that frame of mind. They are meeting Sharad Pawar saheb, and not just to chat. Ajit Pawar's leadership no longer exists, he has to do servitude, he has to pledge his self-respect. If they return to their own home, I do not call that a merger, or else they will go to one or two other parties."

Raut also said that Sunetra Pawar's NCP and Shinde's party were both cloaks of the BJP.