Sharad Pawar says Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis ‘was not involved’ in NCP merger talks | India News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Senior NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that discussions on a possible merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party factions were held between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had no right to talk about it. Asserting that he was happy that Sunetra Pawar had been sworn in as deputy chief minister, Pawar said, “I am happy that Sunetra Pawar is sworn in as Deputy CM….Merger discussions were held between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil. CM Fadnavis was not involved in the talks. What right did he have to talk about it?”

“At present, our entire focus is on taking care of everyone and moving forward together with those who are grieving. As of now, there is no discussion at all about any political decisions,” Pawar said at a press conference in Baramati.Fadnavis while speaking to reporters on Monday said, “If Ajit Pawar was holding discussions on the merger, would he have done so without taking BJP into confidence? Second, supposing he was holding such discussions, was he doing it to get out of NDA when he was stable in the govt.Some like to create confusion and then use one’s ecosystem to amplify confusion…You all know that the relationship between Ajitdada and me was such that he shared everything with me. Even a day before his unfortunate death, we both sat together chit chatting for an hour.”Former Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar, 66, died on January 28 after the aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district. Following his demise, Sunetra Pawar, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party and his widow, was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister to fill the vacant post.Sharad Pawar also spoke about missing Parliament on Budget Day for the first time in his long political career. “Whether it is the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha of the country, I have been a member for the past 58 years. In all these 58 years, I have never been absent from Parliament on Budget Day. Unfortunately, due to an incident in my family, I could not be present in Parliament on the day of the Budget this time,” he said.