“The NCP (SP) headed by Sharad Pawar won’t join the NDA,” Raut told reporters in Mumbai, drawing a distinction between discussions about organisational reunification and any decision to enter the ruling alliance.
His remarks followed meetings involving senior figures from the NCP led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar and the veteran opposition leader. The contacts have prompted competing assessments of whether the parties could reunite after their split in 2023.
Maharashtra minister Sanjay Shirsat, a leader of the Shiv Sena allied with the BJP, said on Sunday that developments surrounding a possible merger appeared to be approaching their final stages. He cautioned, however, that the direction of any merger and the roles of individual leaders remained to be determined.
“I think the developments are in their final stages, and the roles of various people will soon be decided,” Shirsat said in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. His assessment was not accompanied by an announcement from either NCP faction confirming an agreement.
Parth Pawar, son of the late Ajit Pawar and a leader of the NCP, visited Sharad Pawar at his Silver Oak residence in south Mumbai on Saturday. The meeting followed the veteran politician’s discharge from hospital after treatment for a chest infection.
NCP working president Praful Patel had separately met Sharad Pawar at Breach Candy Hospital. A video circulating online showed the two discussing another meeting after November 10, although the exchange did not establish that a merger had been agreed.
Patel subsequently said he had discussed national and Maharashtra politics with Sharad Pawar during the hospital visit, rather than internal party matters. The explanation left unanswered questions about whether political negotiations were taking place through other channels.
NCP state president Sunil Tatkare added to the discussion by saying that reunification would have occurred in February had Ajit Pawar been alive. Ajit Pawar, whose breakaway faction joined the state’s ruling coalition in 2023, died in a plane crash in January this year.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday that the decision on any merger belonged to the NCP leadership. Since the party was a constituent of the NDA, he expected it to consult its alliance partners before taking a decision.
Fadnavis also said neither faction had informed the BJP of merger discussions. His comments stopped short of endorsing or opposing reunification, underscoring the absence of any formally disclosed arrangement between the parties.
The issue carries immediate significance for Maharashtra’s political alignments. Sharad Pawar’s faction is associated with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, alongside Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, while the NCP headed by Sunetra Pawar participates in the BJP-led Mahayuti government.
Sharad Pawar had told party workers in September that his organisation would not merge with another party merely to obtain power. He urged those wishing to work with him to join his organisation and emphasised strengthening its independent structure.
Raut had also questioned the BJP’s position on a potential reunion, arguing that the party had benefited politically from the earlier NCP split. Those comments reflected opposition concerns about the implications of a merger, rather than evidence of a settled negotiating outcome.
The NCP leadership had also rejected suggestions of an internal rift after senior party figures met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi without Sunetra Pawar. The gathering, attended by Patel and Tatkare among others, had attracted attention because of the absence of the party president and her sons. Party representatives characterised the interaction as routine.
Separately on Sunday, Raut criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis over their Diwali engagements with security personnel and farmers. He described the visits as one-day affairs and argued that symbolic appearances could not substitute for sustained government action.
Modi spent Diwali with Central Reserve Police Force personnel at a camp in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. Raut said such visits could not by themselves prevent cross-border incursions or attacks of the kind seen at Pulwama and Pahalgam.
Fadnavis visited farmers in Lohari Savanga village in Nagpur district during the festival weekend. Raut said drought-affected cultivators needed concrete assistance and more regular engagement from the state government, rather than attention confined to a festive occasion.
