Sharad Pawar rules out merger, says join us if you want unity

Amid days of speculation over a merger of the two NCP factions, Sharad Pawar addressed the issue directly at a party meeting on Sunday. There had been talk of the two Nationalist Congress Party factions coming together, as well as speculation that Pawar's faction could join the NDA. Addressing the meeting, Pawar said, "We will not go anywhere, we will not go with anyone. If you want to come, come with us."

After Pawar's statement, state unit president Shashikant Shinde also clarified the party's position. According to him, if a merger is to happen, it should be into Sharad Pawar's NCP. Shinde said talk of a merger between the two NCP factions had come up before as well. While Ajit Pawar was alive, some issues had been settled, and it had been decided that the process would go ahead based on Sharad Pawar's suggestion. But after Ajit Pawar's death, the issue faded into the background. Even so, discussion of a merger kept continuing, creating an impression of unease among party workers. Shinde said Sharad Pawar has now clarified his position himself.

Shinde also said there is no need to keep the merger issue under discussion right now, but that those who want to merge should merge into Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, and that this is Pawar's stated position.

Meetings between Sharad Pawar and senior BJP leaders in recent months had triggered various discussions about his political stance, and meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had added to the speculation. With his statement, Pawar gave a clear answer to this speculation as well. Political circles are discussing that his remark was directed at Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar and her faction, though there are differing reactions on its actual political meaning.

Shinde also said all Maha Vikas Aghadi parties need to come together on various state issues and problems. He said a joint agitation by all opposition parties would be more effective. On the Thackeray faction's march planned for October 4 against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Shinde said the NCP has not yet received any invitation for the march, but that it would consider one if it came from the Thackeray faction.

Ajit Pawar's NCP state president Sunil Tatkare, reacting to Sharad Pawar's statement, said Pawar has been in national politics for the past six decades, so the meaning of his statements is often not immediately clear, and that the response to his remark would become clear with time. On Sharad Pawar's displeasure over the government's decision on drought, Tatkare said the government has taken steps in view of the drought, that the state's Mahayuti government is sensitive to the issue, and that initial data on drought-hit talukas has been released under Trigger 1. He said help is also expected from the central government. Tatkare said it has been Sharad Pawar's nature to place farmers' concerns before the government and that he keeps raising farmers' issues from his experience.

Asked about Supriya Sule's statement about being in a fighting stance, Tatkare said he had not heard that statement and that it was necessary to understand in what context she made it. He said there are many different issues in the country and the state, so he did not know exactly which issue Sule was referring to when she took a fighting stance. He said fighting could also mean fighting for people's issues.