NCP leaders meet HM Amit Shah; Sunetra Pawar calls meeting of legislators tomorrow
Mumbai, Nov 2 (IANS) Intense political developments are unfolding within the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), triggering heavy speculation across political circles.
The friction came to light following a late Sunday night meeting in Delhi, where senior NCP leaders met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to sources, the party veterans expressed their discontent directly to Shah, alleging they were being sidelined while major decisions were being made within the party.
Reports indicated that the leaders voiced their grievances regarding the growing internal influence of Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar and Rajya Sabha MP Parth Pawar.
In a swift counter-move amid ongoing core committee deliberations, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has summoned an emergency meeting of all NCP legislators in Mumbai.
The high-stakes meeting is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Tuesday at the Devagiri official residence of Sunetra Pawar. Notably, this marks the first time in four months that a comprehensive meeting of all party legislators has been convened.
Political circles are closely monitoring the developments, with sources predicting that major organisational decisions could emerge from Tuesday’s legislative meeting. Party spokespersons maintain that internal dialogues are ongoing to address alignment, unity, and strategy moving forward within the Mahayuti alliance.
Meanwhile, NCP National Chief spokesperson Umesh Patil on Monday dismissed reports seeking to portray the meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and senior NCP leaders in Delhi as a sign of internal differences within the party, describing them as mischievous attempts to create an artificial narrative of discord and lack of coordination among its leadership.
Patil said certain forces were unnecessarily politicising the meeting and planting reports to suggest that differences existed within the NCP. He termed the claims baseless and misleading.
He clarified that NCP national president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, along with MP Parth Pawar, had earlier met Shah and held detailed discussions on various issues confronting the party following the demise of Ajit Pawar.
During that meeting, Sunetra Pawar had herself informed Home Minister Shah that a delegation of senior party leaders would be meeting him and had requested him to allot time for the interaction, Patil said.
He added that the senior leaders were well-versed with several important matters from Ajit Pawar’s tenure, issues concerning the interests of Maharashtra and various party-related matters. The meeting on Monday was, therefore, pre-scheduled and formal, he clarified.
During the interaction, the leaders also raised various issues concerning their respective constituencies. There was also a routine, informal exchange of views among leaders of alliance partners, as is customary within the Mahayuti, Patil said.
He categorically rejected reports claiming that the meeting had taken place by sidelining Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar, calling them entirely false, factually incorrect and misleading.
The NCP is an important constituent of the Mahayuti alliance and remains united, working collectively under the firm leadership of its national president, Sunetra Pawar, Patil said.
Urging the media to verify facts before publishing reports, he said it was inappropriate to project internal conflict within the party based on speculation and conjecture.
“Do not politicise formal meetings between leaders of alliance partners. Understand the difference between planted reports and the facts,” Patil said.
–IANS
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