Ajit Pawar Was Keen on Merger of Two NCP Factions Before the Fatal Plane Crash, Says Close Aide

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was reportedly keen on the merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and it was about to materialise soon. Ajit Pawar, the 66-year-old

NCP chief, popularly known as 'Dada' (elder brother) in Maharashtra, was cremated with full state honours at the Vidya Pratishthan college ground in Baramati on Thursday. The entire process of the merger of the two factions was complete, and it was likely to be finalised in the next few days, a close associate of the deceased leader told news agency PTI. Kiran Gujar, who has been associated with Ajit Pawar since before his entry into politics in the mid-1980s, told PTI that Pawar had confided in him about this only five days before Wednesday's fatal plane crash."He was hundred per cent keen on merging both the factions. He had told me five days ago that the entire process was complete and the merger was imminent in the next few days," Gujar said. Gujar, who has been associated with the Pawar family for over 40 years, remained with Ajit Pawar through his various political phases and was considered his close confidant.During the recent civic polls, which the two factions contested in alliance, Ajit Pawar had also told select journalists that he intended to merge his party with the NCP (SP) while his uncle Sharad Pawar was in good health, reported the news agency. After contesting the January 15 civic elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together, the two factions decided to contine the tie-up for the next month's Zilla Parishad elections too.

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Gujar said that Ajit had a roadmap ready for the merger and future course of the united NCP. Asked whether he had discussed the issue with Sharad Pawar, Gujar said "positive talks were underway with Pawar saheb, Supriya Tai (Supriya Sule) and other leaders", and there were indications that the senior Pawar would endorse the move."Many positive things were on the cards, but this tragedy struck and took Ajit 'dada' away from us. Now, after his death, it has become even more imperative that both factions come together and work for the betterment of Baramati and the state," he said.Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board the aircraft were killed after it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip. The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt Shambhavi Pathak, with 1,500 hours of flying experience, Personal Security Officer Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.