After Ajit Pawar's death in plane crash, NCP-NCP (SP) merger talks hit hurdle

On the June-July 2023 split in the NCP and subsequent formation of the NCP (SP), Shashikant Shinde claimed that "invisible forces," threats, and "false conspiracies" were the reasons behind the split.

The NCP-NCP (SP) merger talks took a new turn when the Sharad Pawar-led faction’s president Shashikant Shinde claimed that post the reunification the overall responsibilities would have been with Deputy Chief Minister and NCP national president Ajit Pawar.

“Fulfilling this merger and rebuilding the party with strength would be the only true tribute to Ajit Dada. It was our decision to hand over all party responsibilities to Ajit Dada once the merger process was complete. However, fate had other plans. We were all mentally prepared to accept Ajit Dada’s leadership,” said Shinde, an MLC from Satara and a former minister.

However, on the June-July 2023 split in the NCP and subsequent formation of the NCP (SP), he claimed that "invisible forces," threats, and "false conspiracies" were the reasons behind the split.

Shinde’s opinion in writing appeared in the February 2026 edition of Rashtravadi, the party magazine, in which he paid tributes to Ajit Pawar.

According to him, the late NCP president had been forced to form a separate group against his original intentions.

Shinde has claimed that "maneuvers by invisible forces, threats, and a web of false allegations" created a situation where Pawar felt compelled to step out of the parent organization.

He said that the process of "correcting past mistakes" had been underway for the last four to five months. Ajit Pawar was in dialogue with Sharad Pawar and senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil, to reunite the two factions.

"The dream of seeing both sides of the party come together under Ajit Dada’s leadership remains unfulfilled due to the intervention of fate,” he added.

Meanwhile, state NCP president and Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare made it clear that the party is committed to the NDA. “We are part of NDA and will remain part of NDA. In (June-July) 2023 we made a decision (to go with NDA),” he said.

According to him, what Shinde wrote is not proper. “I have read the article…I have an objection…such kind of a statement from his side is not proper and that too in writing,” he said, adding that such statements referring to Ajit Pawar is not proper. “I do not understand the motive and the purpose of the statement when Ajit Dada is not around,” he added.

To a question, Tatkare said that only if an official proposal regarding merger comes only then it can be discussed.

When asked about NCP MLA Hiraman Khoskar said that around 35 MLAs are of the opinion that there should be a merger. “What Khoskar has said is that we will sit together and decide…however, I have not heard what he said…I will speak to him and know his views,” he added.