Patel meets ailing Sharad Pawar at Breach Candy, NCP merger talk gathers pace

Praful Patel, national working president of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), called on senior leader Sharad Pawar at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on the evening of Thursday, November 5. The visit has revived speculation in Maharashtra's political circles about the future of the two NCP factions.

Pawar is being treated at the hospital, where he was admitted after falling unwell. Patel said he had gone to enquire about his health. Speaking to reporters afterwards, he said "Saheb" is in good health, adding that Pawar was laughing and wanted to know what was happening in the state and in the country.

Patel also said that political roles may differ, but personal affection and family ties remain intact. He felt a hospital was not the place to discuss other political matters, and so he said little on the subject.

Chhagan Bhujbal, a minister, and Congress MLA Vishwajeet Kadam had also met Pawar before Patel.

According to sources, Pawar asked Patel about the November 2 meeting in Delhi with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He is said to have wanted to know what was discussed and which issues came up. Six key leaders of the Ajit Pawar faction met Shah: Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde and Dilip Walse Patil. There has been talk about the party's internal developments and the political course of the two factions ever since.

Other sources go further. They say the conversation was not confined to health, and that a possible merger of the two NCPs was discussed in some detail, along with a special message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi meant for Pawar. These sources say Pawar's advancing age and repeated hospital admissions have quickened efforts to bring the factions together with the party's future in mind. There is also talk that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has itself taken the initiative to bring the Sharad Pawar faction into the NDA.

Patel and Tatkare are described as the most aggressive advocates of a merger. Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar are said to oppose it, and the reported reasons are questions of dominance in the party and internal equations.

The chatter also covers what each side might gain. If the Sharad Pawar faction joined the NDA, the Central government would gain the strength of its 8 key MPs. Pawar is also regarded as the seniormost architect of the INDIA alliance, so his move could deal the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi and the INDIA bloc its biggest blow. Supriya Sule, his daughter and an MP, is said to be likely to get a Cabinet minister's post at the Centre, which would secure her future in politics. Senior leader Jayant Patil could be offered the important Finance portfolio in the Maharashtra Cabinet.

None of this has been officially confirmed. There is so far no confirmation of what political matters, if any, were discussed at the hospital, and Patel's own account is that he held back from such topics. The state is now watching whether Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar will accept the growing demand for a "United NCP", given Pawar's health and pressure from senior leaders.