MUMBAI: While speculation was rife in political circles on Monday over the possibility of
merger
of
Congress
and
NCP
(Sharadchandra Pawar) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, senior leaders of both parties denied it, saying these were all
rumours
and nothing was on the cards.
Also, a little over a week after the
Sharad Pawar
group lost the NCP party name and symbol to Ajit Pawar, Pawar Senior's group applied to the EC for a new symbol citing three choices: a whistle, a pair of spectacles and a banyan tree.
According to reports, AICC observer Ramesh Chennithala, who is in charge of Maharashtra, had during his meeting with Sharad Pawar on Tuesday given a merger proposal in the larger interest of the two parties and to keep away BJP from power. It was proposed that the Sharad Pawar faction's nominees would contest on the Congress symbol in the LS elections as the NCP symbol is no longer with them.
MPCC president Nana Patole said he along with Chennithala did meet Sharad Pawar, but there was no discussion on a merger. "We discussed preparations for the LS elections and the seat-sharing formula among the constituents. At no stage was there discussion on the merger of NCP and Congress," Patole said.
NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Anil Deshmukh and working president Supriya Sule denied the reports, saying NCP is part of MVA, it is intact and will contest LS elections with the goal of defeating BJP.
"We are contesting the Election Commission's verdict of granting the party name and symbol to the other group in Supreme Court. We will fight the case on merit to get the justice," she said in Pune on Wednesday after a meeting attended by MPs and MLAs of the Sharad Pawar faction .
A former Congress MP said notwithstanding the denial, talks are in progress at different levels on the merger of NCP with Congress. "Sharad Pawar set up NCP in 1999 citing Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins. In 25 years, the political situation has changed completely. In Maharashtra, Pawar had been working with the Congress and he was also union minister in the Manmohan Singh government," he said, adding that in the months to come, the NCP will merge with the Congress.
Meanwhile, an NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader said, "We expect EC to approve one of the symbols."
(With inputs from Anurag Bende)
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