Speaking at a press conference in Baramati, Pawar claimed that he found out about Sunetra Pawar’s swearing-in through media reports.
“I have no information about it. Her party must have decided… What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions,” ANI quoted Pawar as saying.
He added, “I had no discussion on this. I have no information about this… I am not even aware if it is happening.”
Baramati, Maharashtra: On reports that Sunetra Pawar will take oath as Deputy CM, NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar says, “I have no information about it. Her party must have decided…What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the… pic.twitter.com/i5DDQz8AO8
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026
Pawar suggested that the NCP must have made the decision in this regard.
Over the past few months, merger talks had been going on between the two NCP factions. These were led by Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil, according to India Today.
The veteran Maharashtra leader claimed that it was his late nephew’s wish to unite both the NCP factions, adding that they were optimistic about it.
“Now, we feel his wish should be fulfilled. Ajit Pawar, Shashikant Shinde and Jayant Patil had initiated the talks about the merger of the two factions,” PTI quoted Sharad Pawar as saying.
Pawar shared that they had even fixed February 12 as the merger date.
“Even the merger date had been fixed — it was scheduled on the 12th (February). Unfortunately, Ajit left us before that,” he said.
Ajit Pawar split the NCP in July 2023 and took away over 40 of the party’s 54 MLAs to join the Mahayuti government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Post the split, Sharad Pawar’s faction received the name: Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had on Friday said the BJP will support whatever decision is taken by Ajit Pawar’s family and party.
“The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and the government and BJP will support the decision,” he said. “I can only tell you that we are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and NCP”.
Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, died in an air crash in Baramati on January 28.
