NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Wednesday said that the idea of a reunion between the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions was the last wish of her late brother Ajit Pawar, even as she refrained from commenting on ongoing speculation over a possible merger.
Addressing a press conference, the NCP (SP) leader said her brother had wanted the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to come together. “Till my brother (Ajit Pawar) was alive… was there dialogue… 100 per cent. Was it my brother’s last wish for all of us to come together? Yes, it was.”
“It was my brother’s last wish for both the NCPs to work together and be together. Unfortunately, my brother passed away,” she added.
Sule’s remarks came amid renewed buzz over a possible merger between the two factions that split in 2023 after Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle, Sharad Pawar, and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra.
However, Sule avoided commenting on the merger speculation directly, insisting she does not rely on “sources” or political gossip. She reiterated that all eight NCP (SP) MPs and the party’s MLAs remain united under Sharad Pawar’s leadership.
“I don’t have so much spare time to indulge in gossip. I don’t believe in sources, I believe in reality,” she said, adding, “Let me reassure you that all 8 MPs of NCP(SP) and all our MLAs, we stick together. Whatever decisions we will be taking… please understand NCP(SP) is a party where Sharad Pawar not only leads it, but he invests in everybody and he listens. His biggest strength as a leader is that he is an amazing listener.”