Sharad Pawar Meets 8 NCP SP MPs at 6 Janpath Residence in New Delhi
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar convened a meeting with all eight Lok Sabha MPs from his party at his 6 Janpath residence in New Delhi on Wednesday. The gathering took place amid widespread political speculation regarding a potential reunification of the two NCP factions and recent high-level interactions with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.
Party lawmakers present at the residence described the interaction as a routine briefing during the ongoing Parliament session. NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe stated that Pawar regularly meets parliamentarians to review pending development projects and discuss necessary updates. MP Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil noted that the veteran leader shared past experiences, sought constituency updates, and promised to raise pending developmental works with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Political speculation was further fueled later on Wednesday when NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule was seen travelling in the same car as BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde. The two leaders left together for a parliamentary committee meeting following a discussion on the Jal Jeevan Mission, a rural household tap water initiative, chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil at New Maharashtra Sadan.
Wednesday's events occurred two days after all eight NCP (SP) MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Parliament office on Monday. Later that evening, Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the wedding reception of Sule's daughter, Revati, at Pawar's residence in New Delhi. Pawar and Sule had also previously met with Modi on July 22.
The series of meetings has triggered intense discussion over whether the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) might reunite with the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, or offer support to the proposed Delimitation Bill in Parliament. While the BJP leadership has shown interest in bringing the two factions together, Sunetra Pawar and her elder son Parth have reportedly opposed any potential merger.
