PUNE: The recent meeting of NCP working president Praful Patel and state president Sunil Tatkare with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis without the knowledge of the party chief, Sunetra Pawar, has triggered speculations of a rift in the outfit’s top brass.Patel and Tatkare visited chief minister’s official residence, ‘Varsha’, on Tuesday night when former NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil also met Fadnavis. It triggered speculations of Fadnavis mediating between both factions of NCP.Tatkare on Thursday admitted that he did not have prior discussions with Sunetra over meeting Fadnavis for his constituency’s development work. He said Patel’s presence at “Varsha” was merely a coincidence.Amid reports that Sunetra sought an explanation from Tatkare on why she had not been informed, Tatkare said, “Not every meeting with the chief minister veers around a political issue. If any political issue has to be taken up, we discuss the same within our party’s core committee and Sunetra Vahini is apprised about it. This time, I went for my constituency’s work. Prior discussion (with Sunetra) was not required for it.”The rift between the leadership of the NCP became public this week with Patel speaking of the need for “corrective measures.” After Ajit Pawar’s death, Sunetra and her son, party MP Parth Pawar, have been on one side with the latter playing a larger role in managing party affairs. Patel and Tatkare, seen as challengers to her leadership, have been finding themselves increasingly sidelined.Regarding the NCP’s finance portfolio which had been taken over by Fadnavis after Ajit Pawar’s death, Tatkare said, “We will be meeting Fadnavis with Sunetra Vahini to discuss this.”He also said the issue of the notice sent by the party’s Sachchidanand Singh, which posed a challenge to Sunetra’s leadership, would be discussed in Delhi, where Parth, Patel and Tatkare would be meeting for the Parliament session. “This has already been discussed at the party’s core committee meeting,” Tatkare said.NCP state president Tatkare’s effort to downplay his meeting with the chief minister on the day NCP (SP)’s Patil also met the latter could not restrain some NCP MLAS from hinting at a growing uneasiness within the party over speculations of NCP (SP) moving closer to NDA.“If Pawar’s party joins NDA, the political equations will drastically change more in the state than the country. Some MLAs are sceptical about the party losing its importance if NCP (SP) overpowers it after joining the alliance,” an NCP MLA told TOI.The speculations of NCP (SP) tilting towards NDA gained momentum after Patil held two meetings with BJP seniors — chief minister Fadnavis and the party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde — within less than a month. NCP (SP)’s national working president Supriya Sule’s statement on Wednesday that the party would consider supporting the delimitation bill if the Centre increased Lok Sabha seats by 50% in all the states intensified the speculations.Reacting to Supriya’s statement, Tatkare said, “The decision on whether to support the bill or not is solely their party leadership’s call. But extending support to a bill does not necessarily mean joining the NDA.”Some NCP MLAs were apprehensive about NCP (SP)’s entry into NDA. They claimed that senior Pawar might possess better bargaining power than their faction at the Centre.A senior NCP member said, “Besides massive political experience and connections in New Delhi, Pawar has eight Lok Sabha MPs with him. If he indeed joins the alliance, he may have more say than our party at the central-level.”NCP has just one Lok Sabha MP and three Rajya Sabha members. Senior Pawar is the sole representative of NCP (SP) in the Rajya Sabha.Amid speculations of NCP (SP) exploring options to join NDA, Tatkare clarified that no merger talks were on between both factions of NCP. He said, “The discussion was in progress when Ajit Pawar was alive. Had he been there today, we would have supported his decision. The discussion stopped with his unfortunate death. The announcement of halting the discussion process came from NCP (SP).”Tatkare said, “I will express my opinion only when actual discussion on the issue happens in future. Chief minister’s separate meetings with me, Patel and Patil have nothing to do with the merger issue.”(With inputs from Priyanka Kakodkar in Mumbai)
