Mumbai, Feb 16 (IANS) NCP legislators on Monday formally decided to appoint Sunetra Pawar, wife of former Deputy Chief Minister late Ajit Pawar, as the national president and rally behind her strongly, especially after the sudden and untimely death of Pawar in a plane crash on January 28. ​

The party is expected to hold a national executive meeting on February 26 in Mumbai, where her appointment will take place.​

NCP sources said that Sunetra Pawar has decided to accept the responsibility as the national president and chart a new path, especially after the sudden and untimely death of her husband and national president, Ajit Pawar, on January 28 in a plane crash. ​

At the maiden meeting chaired by Sunetra Pawar, who took the oath as deputy chief minister after she was elected the legislature party leader on January 31, the party legislators unanimously authorised her to decide on the merger with the Sharad Pawar faction.​

The NCP leadership has instructed party MLAs to refrain from discussing the merger in the media. The focus of today’s meeting remained on party organisation, the presidential selection, and the upcoming budget session of the state legislature starting from February 23.​

NCP sources said the meeting took place in a sombre atmosphere, in which legislators assured their support to Sunetra Pawar in strengthening the party organisation in the days to come and carrying forward the legacy of the late Ajit Pawar. ​

Party working president Praful Patel, state unit chief Sunil Tatkare, and senior party minister Chhagan Bhujbal addressed the meeting, whole recalling Ajit Pawar’s role in the growth of NCP and his desire to further spread its wings across the state.​

In an emotional speech, Sunetra Pawar spoke at length about her association with Ajit Pawar and the circumstances that led her to become the legislative party leader and Deputy Chief Minister.​

“I decided to take up the new responsibility to keep the party united and consolidate its position,” she told the legislators.​

Today’s meeting took place days after the war of words between the two sides over the merger or reunification. NCP SP leaders continued to claim that Ajit Pawar had initiated talks about a merger, but the NCP strongly denied it. ​

The working president, Praful Patel, downplayed the debate over the merger of two NCP factions, while Sunil Tatkare claimed that the NCP is part of the BJP-led NDA and will remain so in the future. ​

After a snub from the Ajit Pawar faction, the state NCP SP chief, Shashikant Shinde, last Saturday announced that, for them, the merger is a closed chapter, especially since Ajit Pawar, who had initiated the discussions, is no more.

​–IANS

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