Baramati talks, Mumbai moves: NCP factions diverge over Sunetra Pawar’s elevation

While the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction is engaged in hectic parleys in Baramati to chart the party’s reunification bid and decide its political future, the Ajit Pawar–led camp is pressing ahead in Mumbai to choose Sunetra Pawar as its legislature party leader and stake its claim to the vacant deputy chief minister’s post in Maharashtra.

This highlights contrasting priorities, with the Ajit Pawar camp fast-tracking Sunetra Pawar’s elevation while the broader question of the NCP’s unity and future leadership remains unresolved.

Unity talks, power push

NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar has meanwhile carefully distanced himself from the political churn, signalling that key decisions, including that of Sunetra’s elevation, are being driven by leaders of the other NCP faction. By stressing that discussions and decisions are taking place in Mumbai and are being steered by senior leaders such as Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, he has underscored that he is not part of the decision-making process, a calibrated stance that keeps the door open for merger talks while quietly registering dissent over the pace and direction of the moves being made.

Also Read: Unaware of Sunetra Pawar's swearing-in as Maharashtra Dy CM, says Sharad Pawar

Pawar has been holding meetings with his party leaders at his Gobind Bagh residence in Baramati where Ajit’s son Parth Pawar also met him on Saturday. On the other hand, an NCP legislature party meeting of around 40 MLAs is taking place at Mumbai’s Vidhan Bhavan at 2 pm to formally elect a new leader, with a swearing-in ceremony expected later in the day.

Merger talks lose momentum

The parallel tracks come amid uncertainty over the proposed merger of the two NCP factions, which Sharad Pawar said had effectively stalled following Ajit Pawar’s death.

The reunification, scheduled to be announced on February 12, had been under discussion for nearly four months, but Pawar suggested that leaders from the Ajit Pawar camp may have lost interest even as his own faction remained keen. “Unfortunately, Ajit Pawar’s plane crash has halted the merger talks. Our desire is also that the two sides should come together,” Pawar told reporters. The apparent lack of enthusiasm from the other faction was reflected in NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare declining to comment on the merger talks on Saturday.

Pawar's remarks come against the backdrop of speculation that the swift move to elevate Sunetra Pawar was driven by anxiety within the party over a leadership vacuum. Pawar acknowledged that there may have been a sense within the other faction that someone needed to take responsibility for the party. “There may be a feeling that someone has to take responsibility for the NCP and possibly for this reason, the latest development may be taking place,” he said.

Ajit Pawar’s unfinished plan

Pawar also revealed that it was Ajit Pawar who had proposed February 12 as a tentative date for the merger and had been actively involved in the discussions. “Ajit Pawar was an effective leader,” he said, adding that while he himself was not directly involved in the talks, they were being held between Jayant Patil from his faction and Ajit Pawar from the other camp.

Also Read: After Ajit Pawar’s death, NCP seeks to retain key cabinet portfolios in Maharashtra

Asked whether Sunetra Pawar’s oath-taking reflected undue haste, Sharad Pawar said he was unaware of any urgency, suggesting that the demand for the move may have come from within the Ajit Pawar–led faction.

The NCP split in July 2023 after Ajit Pawar broke away with more than 40 of the party’s 54 MLAs to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government, prompting Sharad Pawar to name his faction the Nationalist Congress Party–Sharadchandra Pawar. While the two sides briefly came together during the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic elections, the experiment failed to yield results, with the BJP securing decisive victories in both municipal corporations.

Opposition flags BJP pressure

Reacting to Sharad Pawar’s remarks on reports of Sunetra being considered for the Deputy CM’s post, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday said the decision would be taken by the NCP, while suggesting there may also have been pressure from the BJP. “Decision will be made by their (NCP) side, there must have been pressure by BJP too because they are together in Mahayuti govt there,” she said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also took a swipe at the BJP, saying, “The BJP is a party that does politics over dead bodies. While Ajit Pawar was alive, their coming together was possible… but now I don't know. I am commenting only on the events that have transpired in the BJP case,” reported ANI.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil also questioned the hurry to fill the Deputy Chief Minister post in Maharashtra, noting that it “is not a constitutional post” and had only been vacant for three days following Ajit Pawar’s demise, reported ANI.

He also expressed concern over the party’s decision-making process and possible external influences following the death of the 66-year-old Pawar. Speaking to ANI in Nagpur, Patil said: “This is a very serious issue. Who is making the decisions? It's also important to see who was behind the scenes, influencing and forcing the decisions. There are also reports that the BJP is making decisions on behalf of the NCP, and if the family wasn't even given a chance to decide on the next step, that's also something to consider.”