Supriya Sule rules out NCP merger talks, says issue ended the day Ajit Pawar died

As the state debates whether the two Nationalist parties will unite and whether Sharad Pawar's party will go with the NDA, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule held a press conference today and dismissed talk of a merger of the two parties.

Sule said she is now tired of the merger talk. According to her, the talk continued as long as her brother Ajit Pawar was there, and a date had even been fixed. The day her brother went, the matter was brought to a full stop in her mind and in her party, she said.

She said videos of discussions with organisation office-bearers and Ajitdada had also been shown. Sule said the decision to move forward had been taken with Ajitdada himself. She also said that some things are also matters of the heart.

Sule said no statement has been issued from her side since then. She said she did not counter any of the statements that came from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. She told reporters to ask any questions they have on the merger today itself, and made clear she will not speak on the merger hereafter. Sule also said there is no question of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) going into government.

Meanwhile, sources have said that NCP national president Sunetra Pawar does not want the two parties to become one. According to the sources, Sunetra Pawar herself has conveyed this to the Mahayuti's state leaders. She is quoted as saying the two parties should not unite, or a question of their very existence could arise later. For now, therefore, she does not approve a merger of the two Nationalist parties.

The sources also said Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has indicated that if the other NCP has a different view, or wants to join the NDA as an independent constituent of the Mahayuti, there will be no opposition from her. According to the sources, given the obstacles to a merger, the option of Sharad Pawar's NCP going into government as a separate party, rather than merging, is under discussion.