NCP Leaders Meet Amid Speculation Over Party Merger

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar's elder son and Rajya Sabha member Parth Pawar met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at his residence in Mumbai for the second consecutive day on Sunday. The meeting has further fuelled speculation that the NCP faction is trying to revive the merger talks. Parth held discussions with the senior leader for about two hours, fuelling speculation about the possibility of the two factions of the NCP reuniting. The two had a conversation for about two hours on Saturday as well. Later in the evening, Sharad Pawar held a separate meeting with his party's senior leaders. This second meeting included Jayant Patil, Shashikant Shinde, Amol Kolhe, Anil Deshmukh and Jitendra Awhad and lasted for about three hours. Most of these leaders had been involved in the merger talks led by Jayant Patil in the past as well. Kolhe and Awhad told reporters after meeting Sharad Pawar that no merger had taken place. Sharad Pawar had only recently got discharged from the NCP chief's hospital.