Maharashtra: Sharad Pawar's Faction Rubbishes Speculations Of Merger With Congress

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders have denied reports of plans to merge with the Congress. Speculation arose when AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala, met with Sharad Pawar. However, NCP leaders like Supriya Sule, Amol Kolhe, and Rohit Pawar dismissed any merger talks. Pawar broke away from the Congress on June 10, 1999, forming the NCP due to his opposition to Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin leading the Congress. Despite this, he later allied with Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the state unit of the Congress remains resilient despite the defection of senior leaders like Ashok Chavan. Chennithala met with senior leaders like MPCC president Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat, urging them not to be demoralised by the defections. He expressed confidence that the Congress would perform well in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, even without the support of individuals like Chavan.

In fact, the Congress has launched a campaign highlighting Chavan's alleged involvement in the Adarsh building scam, sharing old BJP tweets targeting him. Congress leaders criticised the BJP for its hypocrisy. "Until recently, Chavan was considered corrupt by the BJP. But the moment he joined the BJP, he was portrayed as a clean man worthy of a Rajya Sabha ticket," observed Patole.