Pune, Feb 12 NCP (SP) leader and former Pune mayor Ankush Kakde said that late Ajit Pawar had wanted the two factions of the NCP to merge, and that the event was scheduled for Thursday.
Pawar's death in a plane crash on January 28 has triggered intense speculation about the merger process of the NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), with leaders making different statements on the subject.
"During the civic elections, Ajitdada assured us that the merger of the two parties would take place soon. According to him, the merger was supposed to happen today. Unfortunately, it could not happen as Ajitdada passed away on January 28. If he had been alive, we would have seen the merger of the two factions today," Kakde claimed.
Incidentally, after Pawar's death, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that the deceased leader wanted to reunite both the factions, and that the merger date was fixed for February 12.
In a press conference, the former Union minister had also said that leaders from his party and Ajit Pawar had held a meeting in Baramati on January 17 related to the merger.