Fadnavis Predicts NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) to Merge with Congress After Lok Sabha Result
Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday claimed that Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are finding it difficult to run their parties on their own and will merge with the Congress after the Lok Sabha election results. Reacting to Sharad Pawar’s statement that regional parties may merge with Congress soon, the BJP leader said the veteran politician has sensed the outcome of the Lok Sabha election.
“Mr. Pawar is a visionary leader. After this election, he and Uddhav Thackeray will struggle to run their parties. Therefore, he has made this statement. I am sure both the parties will merge with the Congress after this election,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Mr. Pawar along with PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar formed the NCP in 1999 after they were expelled from the Congress for opposing Sonia Gandhi over the issue of her foreign origin. “It is not new for Sharad Pawar, who had merged his party with the Congress,” the BJP leader said.
It is pertinent to note that Sharad Pawar left the Congress in 1978 and floated his own outfit Congress (S) and became Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the head of a coalition government, Progressive Democratic Alliance, with other parties including the Janata Party. Subsequently, he again rejoined the Congress in 1986 and later became Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1988. Later raising the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, he founded his own party NCP in 1999.
Sharad Pawar’s estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that Sharad Pawar had merged his outfit Samajwadi Congress with Congress (I) on December 8,1986. “I was sitting in a public rally in Aurangabad and had witnessed the merger,” Ajit said.
The NCP founder has reportedly said smaller parties are getting close to Congress and some of them may merge with the grand old party. He has also said that there is no difference between the Congress and his party because both follow the ideology of Mahatma and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, he has not confirmed whether his party will merge with the Congress and his party’s leadership will take a “collective decision” on it.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde used Sharad Pawar’s comment to target Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying the latter has already become “Congress-minded”. “The Shiv Sena (UBT) has already become Congress as they speak the language of the Congress and Pakistan. Only the formality of official merger is remaining now,” he said.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that the merger of smaller parties will depend upon the result of Lok Sabha elections. If the INDIA bloc comes to power, the smaller parties will merger themselves with the Congress in order to participate in the government, he said.
