A power tussle has begun within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), with the party set to propose late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar for the post of Maharashtra deputy chief minister, sources said. Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha member.
Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra FDA minister Narhari Zirwal on Thursday told the news agency PTI that the public wants Sunetra Pawar to be brought into the state ministry.
According to sources, senior NCP leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde and Sunil Tatkare have held meetings with Sunetra Pawar as part of internal consultations. In all likelihood, Sunetra Pawar will contest from the seat vacated by Ajit Pawar, the sources added.
The proposal will include inducting Sunetra Pawar as deputy chief minister. NCP leaders are also expected to meet Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the proposal and the future course of action.
Sources further said that Praful Patel, the working president of the party, may take the lead in steering the NCP during this phase. Discussions on a possible merger with NCP (SP) are likely to be taken up at a later stage.
Ajit Pawar, sources said, had been in talks with NCP (SP) regarding a merger since the municipal corporation elections.
Pawar and four other people on board the aircraft were killed after it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip.
To a question on the merger of the two NCP groups, Zirwal said, ''The two factions are already together. Everyone has realised that there is no point in remaining scattered and have to be together.''
Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state along with the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Source: ANI