Six senior NCP leaders meet Amit Shah in Delhi; party denies rift over Sunetra Pawar's absence

Six senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday. The meeting came while the party was discussing its demand that the finance portfolio in Maharashtra return to the NCP.

The delegation comprised Dhananjay Munde, Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar and MP Parth Pawar were not part of the delegation, which set off speculation about the party's leadership. The party has rejected reports that the meeting was held by keeping the leadership aside. It says such claims are misleading and an attempt to create an impression of differences within the party.

NCP chief national spokesperson Umesh Patil said the meeting had been fixed beforehand and Sunetra Pawar was aware of it. In a statement, Patil said Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar had earlier met Shah to discuss the questions facing the party after the death of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

According to Patil, Sunetra Pawar herself told Shah at that meeting that a delegation of senior party leaders would call on him, and requested that time be given for it. The spokesperson also said these senior leaders have in-depth knowledge of certain important matters from Ajit Pawar's tenure, issues concerning the state's interests and matters related to the party.

Patil described the report that discussions were held excluding Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar as "completely wrong, baseless and misleading". He said the leaders raised issues from their respective constituencies at the meeting and also exchanged views on matters related to the Mahayuti.

Patil said, "The Nationalist Congress Party is an important constituent of the Mahayuti, and our party is functioning united and in unison under the firm leadership of national president Sunetra Pawar." He also appealed to the media to verify information before reporting on the party's internal matters.

He added, "It appears that some invisible forces are planting such news so that an artificial picture is created that there are internal differences in the NCP and no coordination in the leadership. This is sheer mischief." Patil also said it was not right to paint a picture of conflict in the party merely on the basis of speculation, urged that a formal meeting between leaders of allied parties not be politicised, and asked people to understand the difference between planted news and the actual facts.

The party has been demanding the finance portfolio since Ajit Pawar's death. Because Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar were not in Monday's delegation, questions had been raised over whether the talks were being held without the party's top leadership. Patil said, however, that the meeting was a formal one between senior leaders of allied parties and should not be read as a sign of differences in the party.

Meanwhile, the NCP's core committee will meet at 4 pm on Monday at Ajit Pawar's Devgiri residence in Mumbai.

Sunetra Pawar had on Friday denied reports of differences in the party. She said, "There were no differences among us. In an election there is victory and defeat. If there is a defeat, there is a need for introspection. We will certainly introspect."

She made the remark after the NCP suffered a defeat in the Maharashtra Legislative Council election a few days earlier. The party's candidate, three-time sitting MLA Satish Chavan, was defeated in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduates' constituency by Pratapsingh Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).