After his poor performance in the state’s municipal corporations, especially in Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad, leaders of both factions of the NCP met in Baramati on Saturday and held an hour-long discussion. Although NCP national president Ajit Pawar denied that any such meeting had taken place, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule confirmed that the meeting did take place between leaders of both the parties.
“No such meeting took place,” Ajit Pawar said when asked by reporters if a meeting of leaders of both NCPs had taken place.
The Deputy Chief Minister said he had come to Baramati to attend an agriculture-related exhibition. “I am telling you about the exhibition… The inauguration of the agricultural exhibition was scheduled for today. I am the local representative and that is why I came to the event. But I was told that Sharad Pawar saheb would also attend the event. Therefore, I went to his house and from there I went to attend the exhibition,” Ajit Pawar said.
However, Sule confirmed to this newspaper that a meeting did take place between leaders of both parties. “The leaders of both NCPs met and discussed a number of issues,” Sule said when asked about it.
When contacted, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare said: “I am in Bombay and I don’t know if the leaders of both parties met.”
An NCP leader said: “Both parties discussed the poor performance in the civic elections and expressed the need to unite to overcome future challenges.”
NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde, who also attended the meeting, told reporters that both NCPs would fight together in the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. “We had come to Baramati to discuss the possibility of contesting the ZP and Panchayat Samiti elections together, like we did in the municipal corporation elections,” he said.
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Speaking to reporters, Shinde said, “Wherever possible, we will participate in civic elections together… In some places, we will fight alone,” he said.
When Ajit Pawar was asked about Shinde’s comment, he said, “I don’t know what Shinde told you about the ZP elections. I will collect information about it. But it must be remembered that we delegate the responsibility of forging alliances to local leaders and officials.”
When asked after industrialist Gautam Adani’s visit to Baramati and whether the two NCPs would meet, Ajit Pawar replied, “Gautam Adani had come to Baramati to inaugurate the AI building, he is an industrialist. How is the industrialist’s visit related to any change in policy?”
When asked if the two Pawar families would come together, “That is our internal matter. As a family, we are together. We are together in our good and bad times.”
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Talking about the humiliating defeat of both PNCs in the civic elections Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Ajit Pawar said: “The mandate of the people is paramount… We have accepted it with all due respect. I want to congratulate all the winners and wish them good luck in their future endeavours. Wherever we have failed, we will try to earn the trust of the people… We will work with renewed vigour, honesty and responsibility.”
Ajit Pawar said that BJP had great success. “The voter is the king. We have to make efforts to win. Everyone made an effort but the BJP got outstanding success and therefore deserves all the recognition. The BJP elections were held under the leadership of the Chief Minister. Devendra Fadnavis and they were successful… Others lost but they should not be discouraged. “They should keep working,” he said.
On the reasons for NCP’s loss, Ajit Pawar said, “We will analyze the loss and find out the reasons. Even the media was saying that the mood was in our favour. We were wrong and so was the media.”
He declined to speak on the objections raised over the EVMs. He also avoided questions related to erasing the ink.
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The Deputy Chief Minister said that whoever wins in these elections should prioritize the problems of citizens and accelerate the implementation of welfare schemes. “At the same time, those who lost should not be discouraged. They should continue working for the people,” he said.
The PCN (SP) also affirmed that it has the mandate of the people in the civic elections. “We have accepted the mandate of the people… In the next elections, we will ensure that our votes are not divided,” he said.
When asked if they discussed the possibility of a merger of the two NCPs during their meeting today, Shinde said: “The issue of merger was not discussed… We had come here to discuss the possibility of contesting the upcoming elections together.”