Sharad Pawar Group Rules Out Merger With Congress

 Mumbai: The Maharashtra political circles were abuzz with the reports that Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP will merge with the Congress ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, Pawar’s MP daughter Supriya Sule issued a denial saying her party will not merge with any political party.

“Our faction will not merge with any political party. We will contest the upcoming polls as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA),” Sule said when asked about reports of her party’s merger.

According to reports, the Congress high command has proposed that Pawar should merge his faction and contest the election on a single symbol with the Congress and the NCP is considering it.

Sources said, the proposal came during the meeting of Congress’ Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and top Maharashtra leaders with Sharad Pawar. It was proposed that Pawar should return to his parent party and merge with the Congress.

The move came after the Election Commission named the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction as the ‘real NCP,’ allotting them both the party name and the party symbol clock. The Sharad Pawar-led group has challenged the EC order in the Supreme Court.

Amidst the merger reports, a meeting was held at Pawar's Modi Bagh residence in Pune along with key party leaders to discuss the strategy ahead.

After the meeting, Sule said that there was no such discussion in the meeting. “Don’t spread rumours (of Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s merger with Congress), please look at the aspect of credibility,” she said.

“Today’s meeting was aimed at planning for an upcoming rally (of the INDIA bloc). The discussion revolved around the names of leaders who will address the rally,” she said.

Senior party leader Anil Deshmukh also said that there was no truth in the merger reports.

Sharad Pawar started his political career from the Congress party. In 1967, he was first elected from Baramati Assembly Constituency. The NCP was founded on 10 June, 1999 after Sharad Pawar along with former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar raised the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi – leading to their expulsion. In June-July 2023, Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled to join the BJP-led NDA coalition and thereafter claimed the original party.