Pawar calls NCP (SP) core committee’s meeting, discussions likely on merger

Pune: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has called a meeting of the party’s core committee in Mumbai on Aug 29 to discuss the outfit’s future course of action, including possible merger talks with NCP.Following the recent meeting between senior Pawar and NCP Rajya Sabha member Parth Pawar, the elder son of Ajit Pawar, speculations are rife that the merger talks could be back on track. According to some party functionaries, NCP (SP) seniors are now open for dialogue with members from the other faction. The state president of NCP (SP), Shashikant Shinde, had earlier said the party members would not discuss the issue of merger.“The party is looking to regain its lost ground in the state before the 2029 elections. The feedback from many workers in the grassroots was in favour of NCP (SP)’s merger with the other faction. The party leadership has taken it seriously. The discussion on the merger is likely in the core committee meeting,” a senior functionary of NCP (SP) said.According to some NCP (SP) functionaries, some major political developments in the state are on the cards in the coming days. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent meetings with Sharad Pawar, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde have led to talks about these. Both NCP factions, critical of each other ever since the split, are now avoiding criticising each other. It shows that the gap between the two NCPs is narrowing and most of the members from both factions will be in favour of the reunion,” another NCP (SP) senior said.Farmers should get financial help from Centre like industrialists, says NCP (SP) chiefFormer Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar urged the Centre to take steps in providing relief to farmers facing financial stress.Pawar said the Centre helps big corporates and industrialists by waiving off taxes, increasing tenure of their loans. In the similar manner, the govt should provide financial relief to farmers also, he said at an event organised by grapes growers’ association in Pune.“Our party is not in the govt, but we will continue to make efforts to take up farmers’ issues with the Centre to find a solution,” Pawar said.