Stressing that many regional parties will move closer to Congress or even merge with Congress after the Lok Sabha election, NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that his party and Congress' ideology are the same. The veteran politician's statement has now sparked speculations over whether he will merge his faction of NCP with the grand old party.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Sharad Pawar said, "In the next couple of years, several regional parties will associate more closely with the Congress. Or they may look at the option of merging with the Congress if they believe that is best for their party."
Responding to the question of whether his party too will merge with Congress, Pawar said, "I don’t see any difference between the Congress and us….Ideologically, we belong to the Gandhi, Nehru line of thinking."
However, quickly clarifying that there's no such decision made as of now, Pawar said, “I am not saying anything now…Without consulting colleagues, I shouldn’t say anything. Ideologically, we are close to them (the Congress) — any decision on strategy or the next steps will be taken collectively. It is difficult to adjust (with) or digest (Narendra) Modi."
The 84-year-old veteran has been battered by the split engineered in his party by his nephew Ajit Pawar. Pawar junior took away the majority of NCP MLAs and MPs from the party, leading to his faction being identified as the 'real' NCP by the Election Commission. Since then, it has been an uphill task for Sharad Pawar to reorganize and reform the organization, which was given the name of NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) by the EC. Pawar so far has fought the tough fight, connecting with old foes and making necessary alliances, to prove that he still has it in him. The Baramati election, where voting culminated on Tuesday, has become a center of attention for the entire country. Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar were involved in a fierce electoral contest. However, the real fight in the background was between the nephew and the battered uncle.
Even after the split, many had suggested that Pawar should merge his faction with the Congress party, from where it emerged in the early 2000s. With Pawar himself hinting at such a possibility, Maharashtra politics is likely to become more interesting.