Mumbai, February 5: Sunil Tatkare, the president of the Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), asserted on Thursday that the oath-taking ceremony for Sunetra Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister was not rushed.
He clarified, “I want to inform Maharashtra and its people that the ceremony took place after a three-day mourning period, specifically 72 hours later. I want to make this clear to avoid being misrepresented based on incorrect information. There is no reason to claim that the oath was taken in haste. We convened a meeting of the legislative party on the fourth day after adhering to the official mourning period. On that day, we submitted a letter to the Chief Minister, who then requested the Governor to administer the oath to Sunetra Pawar. Therefore, the question of ‘hastiness’ does not arise.”
Tatkare mentioned that decisions were made under the leadership of Ajit Pawar, after which they joined the NDA and contested the Lok Sabha elections. He stated, “We faced a setback in those elections. However, during the assembly elections, Ajit Dada and all of us campaigned confidently across Maharashtra. We succeeded in winning 41 out of 59 seats under the ‘Clock’ symbol.”
He questioned, “Naturally, since Ajit Dada was the leader of the legislative party and unfortunately passed away, we initiated the process of selecting a new leader. What is wrong with that?”
In response to questions about the merger of two factions within the NCP, he said, “I have no objection to anyone’s statements, but if the public learns who initiated the merger discussions at the same place where the body was kept for final respects, it will be clear who was truly in a hurry.”
Tatkare was addressing statements from NCP SP chief Sharad Pawar and other party legislators, who have repeatedly claimed that multiple meetings regarding the merger occurred with Ajit Pawar, who was supposed to announce it on February 12.
Earlier, NCP’s executive president Praful Patel stated on Tuesday that he would not discuss hypothetical questions regarding the merger.
Patel emphasized, “I will only talk about my party as it stands today. I will not comment on any hypothetical situations.”
He stressed that the decision-making process regarding the party’s future lies entirely with its current leadership and will remain an internal matter. Patel noted that the party leadership assured Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar of their full support.
He added, “We requested her to take on the role of Deputy Chief Minister. She accepted that request. ‘Dada’ (Ajit Pawar) was a person who never believed in stopping. When we explained our position, he made the decision. We are pleased that he agreed. He mentioned that the family observes three days of mourning; therefore, she arrived in Mumbai on the fourth day, and the oath was administered. I do not understand why people are still creating controversy.”