Ajit Pawar had told me date of merger of two NCPs: Sunil Tatkare

NCP (SP) president Sunil Tatkare stated on Sunday that there were no plans or talks of merging the NCP (SP) with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). However, he revealed that former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had informed him about the anticipated merger date. Tatkare told The Indian Express, "There is neither any proposal nor any discussion on merger.

The issue of merger ended with the death of Ajit Pawar. After that, the situation changed. Sunetra Pawar became our national president. On the other hand, Supriya Sule also ruled out the possibility of merger." He added that had Ajit Pawar been alive, the merger would have occurred on February 12, as Ajit Pawar had disclosed the merger date to Tatkare.

Earlier this week, Tatkare had claimed that the merger would have happened on February 12, but its non-materialization was due to Ajit Pawar's death on January 28. The NCP (SP) state president, Shashikant Shinde, also mentioned that the merger was finalized by Ajit Pawar and scheduled for February. After Ajit Pawar's demise, NCP (SP) leaders mentioned their discussions with Ajit Pawar, but Tatkare and other NCP leaders claimed unawareness of such talks.

When asked if the merger was now possible, Tatkare said, "The call has to be taken by our national president. Our collective leadership will decide." NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde stated that while discussions on NCP mergers were held previously, there was no chance of a merger now. Workers and local citizens desire the NCP to remain a robust, independent party; Ajit Pawar also held this belief.

Initially, there was a strong desire among both parties to merge and strengthen Maharashtra, leading to these discussions, but there is no such desire now, according to Shinde. NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh questioned Tatkare's recent mention of the merger, asking why he was bringing up the issue now. Deshmukh clarified, "Discussions regarding an NCP merger did happen at one point, there is no longer any discussion or possibility of a merger."