Supriya Sule says no NCP merger proposal received, talk ended the day her brother died

Talk of a merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party has been doing the rounds in political circles for the past few days. It gained further momentum after some leaders of the Ajit Pawar faction met Sharad Pawar. MP Supriya Sule has now made her position clear.

Sule said efforts for a merger were on while Ajit Pawar, whom she called Ajit Dada, was alive. But after his death, she said, no such proposal has come to her. She said this with firm conviction.

Asked about the two NCP parties coming together, Sule said no proposal had reached her and no one had spoken to her about it. She said many people keep meeting Sharad Pawar and there is nothing new or wrong in that. According to her, many leaders met Pawar even when the Ajit Pawar faction split away.

What is going on in the other party is its internal matter, she said. "Why should we interfere in it?" she asked.

Sule responded emotionally as she spoke of Ajit Pawar's death. She said that on the day her brother died, she put an end to the matter. In her words, the merger discussion was on as long as Dada was there, and the world knew what they were going to do. "But my brother is gone, and the matter has ended," she said. Her statement has given the talk of the two NCP parties uniting a new context.

Earlier, Ajit Pawar faction leader Praful Patel and state president Sunil Tatkare had also reacted recently to the merger talk. The meetings of some Ajit Pawar faction leaders with Sharad Pawar had also heightened political discussion.

There is also talk of restlessness among some leaders of both NCP parties. However, Sule has denied that any official proposal has come.

For now, no firm decision on the NCP merger has emerged. Political circles are watching what stance the senior leaders of the two factions take next.