In an article in the party mouthpiece, NCP SP state president Shashikant Shinde claimed that Ajit Pawar was compelled to leave his parent organisation due to the pressure of central agencies, and was keen for a merger of the two NCPs.
Shashikant Shinde also claimed that it was decided that after the merger of both NCPs, the leadership of the unified party would have been entrusted to Ajit Pawar, but he tragically passed away before it could happen.
Reacting to the article, Sunil Tatkare, the state president of Ajit Pawar's NCP, objected to terms like 'invisible forces' used by Shinde. "Ajitdada always wanted to align with the BJP since 2014, as he felt the BJP and NCP could provide political stability and good governance. And he had made this clear to the NCP leadership on several occasions. I don't know why Shinde has written all this and what his objective is in writing it," Tatkare said.
Shashikant Shinde, in his tribute to Ajit Pawar published in the Rashtrawadi monthly magazine, alleged that manipulations, threats and a web of false allegations by 'invisible forces' compelled him to join hands with the BJP.
The NCP SP state president claimed the process of 'correcting past mistakes' was underway, and that Ajit Pawar was set to lead both factions as the successor of Sharad Pawar. Shinde said talks on merging both factions were on for the last four to five months.
“Ajit Pawar was in touch with Sharad Pawar, and a meeting took place in Baramati and Mumbai as well. Ajit Pawar was in dialogue with Jayant Patil and other top leaders of NCP to reunite the two factions. During the municipal corporation election, Ajit Pawar took the lead and decided to contest together, and later he did the same for the district Panchayat election, and most of the seats were contested on the clock symbol, and that helped the NCP win many seats in the Pune District Panchayat election,” Shinde said.
Shinde also revealed that a formal decision to merge both factions of the NCP was to be made on February 12 in the presence of party patriarch Sharad Pawar, but the sudden and unfortunate demise of Ajit Pawar left the transition incomplete.
He added, "The dream of seeing both sides of the party come together under Ajitdada's leadership remains unfulfilled due to the intervention of fate. I urge party leaders and workers to honour Ajitdada’s memory. The incomplete work should be completed by doing the unification process. If this happens, then it would be a sincere tribute to Ajit Pawar and will also strengthen both the NCPs."
