Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said there was no discussion on the NCP merger issue during his meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, on Saturday. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme here, the Chief Minister also said one was hearing about the merger and purported discussions on the issue only in the media. Speculation about the merger has been doing the rounds since the start of this month after NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar was hospitalised and leaders from the Sunetra Pawar- led Nationalist Congress Party, including Praful Patel and Parth Pawar, visited him. “Sunetra tai had come to me regarding Government work.

 

There was no discussion anywhere about any merger. I will once again say that had there been any discussion regarding a merger, they (ally NCP) would have spoken to us (BJP) as we are together in power,” Fadnavis said. “No one has talked about any merger with us. If it had started, they would have told us about it. These discussions are something we only hear about in the media. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to speak on the issue,” the Chief Minister added. Asked about the need for NCP (SP) support in Parliament on the issue of delimitation, Fadnavis said Baramati MP Supriya Sule had already made her party’s stand clear. In her press conference, she clearly stated that NCP (SP) will fully support delimitation if it brings about uniform 50 per cent increase in Lok Sabha seats across all States, Fadnavis said. “She herself said this today. Therefore, I feel that such discussions and this kite-flying should stop,” he added. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, NCP (SP) working president Sule said, “Our stand was that if the proposal was for a uniform 50 per cent increase, we would consider it positively. Our stand remains the same even today.” (PTI)