Sapkal-Sharad Pawar meet sparks speculations

Mumbai: As the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is beset by speculation of emerging political permutations and combinations, Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal called on ally and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar today.

The meeting came amid talks of possible merger of the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar with NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) led by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray cosying up to cousin Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

However, an unfazed Sapkal later told media that he merely paid a courtesy visit to Sharad Pawar whom he had not met since taking over as the state Congress chief in February.

“Pawar is a senior leader with over 50 years’ experience in political and social fields. It was a courtesy call only,” Sapkal said without elaborating.

He took the opportunity to slam the ruling MahaYuti for ignoring the state’s farmers who are being hit by one crisis after another, the latest being the unseasonal rains in May.

“The natural disaster has struck farmers causing huge losses, but the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is asleep. The administration should immediately conduct a loss assessment (panchamas) and rush aid to the farmers on priority,” demanded Sapkal.

He said that the government has already meted out injustice by closing the Re.1 crop insurance scheme which provided some relief, but the new insurance scheme based on crop harvesting is going against the farmers’ interests.

“Scams are already coming to light in the new scheme, but the government lacks courage to book the culprits. They should promptly rectify the flaws instead of scrapping the scheme, or bring back the old Re.1 scheme,” said Sapkal.

On the ensuing Kharif season, the Congress chief claimed that the MahaYuti seems totally unprepared for it, the farmers are being cheated by sale of fake seeds and the government must ensure the supply of both seeds and fertilizers.

Sapkal said the state Congress will hold Tiranga Yatra across Maharashtra on May 21 – the 34th anniversary of assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi – to salute the glory of the Indian soldiers in the recent Operation Sindoor.

“Indian soldiers performed bravely in Operation Sindoor. To salute their courage and express solidarity with all other martyrs—from Mahatma Gandhi to those killed in the April 22 Pahalgam attacks, Congress will take out Tiranga Yatras in all districts that day,” said Sapkal.

Leaders shrug talks of reunion

By Correspondent

Mumbai: As the speculation of potential merger of the two factions of the NCP took the momentum, the leaders of both the parties on Wednesday shrugged the talks of reunion.

NCP (SP) boss Sharad Pawar first sparked the buzz by acknowledging internal differences in his party on the question of joining hands with Ajit Pawar. Both the leaders shared the dais for three different occasions. Against this backdrop the air was cleared from both the sides.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar on Tuesday late night informed his party legislators that no discussion has been held between him and senior leaders of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar about a merger.

Addressing party legislators at the weekly party meeting held at his official residence, Devgiri, Ajit Pawar said that there should be no confusion in the minds of NCP leaders about news reports on a possible merger between the two parties. “There is no discussion on this issue of merger on the level of party leadership from both the sides. No senior leader from our side and no leader from there (NCP-SP) have spoken to each other. These are the speculations and nothing else,” a senior leader who attended this meeting said on a condition of anonymity.

The leader further said that while clarifying the issue, Ajit Pawar specifically mentioned that he was addressing the issue in the meeting as the leaders of his party should be aware of the reality. On the other hand, senior NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh rejected speculation about a potential merger between the factions led by Sharad Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, stressing that no such discussion was held in the NCP (SP) camp. Speculation about the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) led by his uncle Sharad Pawar gained traction days after the latter reportedly said it was up to NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule and Ajit to decide about the reunion.

“The speculation about the potential merger is just a media discussion. No meeting or discussion has been held in the NCP (SP) camp," Deshmukh said.