Key points
- The NCP (SP) legislators are reportedly split into four groups on a merger and joining the NDA government.
- Praful Patel met Sharad Pawar in hospital, and a video shows Pawar suggesting they sit together after November 10.
- Both factions publicly deny fresh talks, while Sunetra and Parth Pawar are said to oppose a merger.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) is divided into four groups over whether to merge with the Ajit Pawar-founded NCP and join the Maharashtra and Union governments of the NDA, according to reports from Mumbai on Thursday, November 12. A section of senior MLAs is said to be strongly in favour of the merger, and most senior legislators are reported to lean towards the proposal, even as both factions publicly say there is no fresh talk.
None of the claims about the split has been confirmed on the record. The reports rest on party sources, and no leader has named the four groups.
What is being said
The latest account says the NCP (SP) legislators have not settled on one line. One section wants the two parties to reunite and then join the ruling alliance, and the reports say the larger part of the senior legislators leans that way. The remaining groups are not described in detail.
Publicly, the line is the opposite. NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil said, “There is no talk of merger within the NCP. It is not even discussed.” He called the reports hearsay and said it would be insensitive to discuss political moves while Sharad Pawar recovers. In the Pawar camp, Rohit Pawar said the question had not been discussed within his party, while Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil have said the party has moved on.
How the week unfolded
Sharad Pawar was admitted to Pune’s Ruby Hall Clinic on November 2 with a persistent cough and chest discomfort and was discharged on November 4, then moved to Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. He returned home on Saturday, November 7, after a three-day stay, treated for a chest and respiratory infection.
At Breach Candy, NCP working president Praful Patel called on him on a Thursday evening. Patel said he went to enquire about Pawar’s health, acknowledged a brief conversation about political developments, and denied a detailed political discussion, calling a hospital an inappropriate place for one. A video that circulated afterwards shows Pawar suggesting that the two sit together after November 10. Patel replies that he will be back in Mumbai by then.
According to the reports, the talk also touched a message that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed to Pawar. Modi telephoned Pawar during his stay at Ruby Hall to ask about his health and advised him to rest. Vitthal Maniyar, described as a close friend of Pawar, told the media that Modi’s message was that Supriya Sule was ready and that they were prepared to take care of the country. This was reported as a paraphrase.
Parth Pawar, the son of the late Ajit Pawar, then visited Sharad Pawar at the Silver Oak residence on two consecutive days. The NCP described the visits as family interactions. After the second visit, Pawar met senior NCP (SP) leaders for nearly three hours, among them Jayant Patil, Shashikant Shinde, Amol Kolhe, Anil Deshmukh and Jitendra Awhad. Shinde, Kolhe and Awhad said the merger was not discussed, and Kolhe and Awhad said the meeting was about Pawar’s health.
The other side of the table
The ruling NCP is not united either. NCP Maharashtra chief Sunil Tatkare has said merger discussions existed and that the reunion would have been formalised on February 12 had Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash at Baramati on January 28, lived. Sunetra Pawar, who now leads the party and is Deputy Chief Minister, and her son Parth are reported to oppose a merger. They were absent from a Delhi meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended by Patel, Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif, Dilip Walse Patil and Dhananjay Munde, which the NCP called pre-planned and about party matters.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat has claimed the merger is in its final stages. Umesh Patil asked what right he had to comment and whether a Shiv Sena merger would make Uddhav Thackeray or Eknath Shinde president. The strain inside the ruling camp was visible on November 3, when NCP leaders at the Devgiri meeting criticised the BJP over the finance portfolio and Bhujbal asked the party to prepare for all 288 seats. Our report on that meeting is linked below.
What each side stands to gain
According to sources quoted in the reports, which are unconfirmed, the BJP would gain the support of eight NCP (SP) MPs and a blow to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. On the Pawar side, Supriya Sule is said to be in line for a Cabinet berth and Jayant Patil for the Maharashtra finance portfolio. The finance department was held by Ajit Pawar and now sits with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. No one has confirmed these arrangements.
The stakes are practical. A merger would bring the two NCP factions under one flag in government, and the next Maharashtra Assembly election is due in 2029.
What happens next
Patel has said he plans to meet Pawar again, and the two had spoken of sitting together once November 10 had passed. Pawar is recovering at home and has made no public statement on a merger or on joining the NDA. In September, Pawar was reported to have ruled out reunification, saying “We will not go with anyone.” Until he speaks, the four groups, and the BJP’s interest in his party, remain claims from sources, and the denials from both factions are the only on-record position.