Baramati, Nov 10 Amid renewed talk of merger of the two factions of the party, Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare on Tuesday visited Baramati and said he would be calling on Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.
Arriving in the town on Diwali, he first paid tributes at the memorial of late party president Ajit Pawar.
He would visit Ajit Pawar’s mother at Katewadi and later meet Sunetra Pawar, Tatkare told reporters.
It was difficult for Nationalist Congress Party workers to think of Diwali without Ajit Pawar, he said.
“I have been visiting Baramati on (Diwali) Padwa for the last 30 years and have witnessed huge gatherings here. I used to meet Dada (Ajit Pawar) and also had the opportunity to meet Sharad Pawar on these occasions. It is difficult to imagine a Baramati Padwa without Dada, but nobody can do anything about fate,” Tatkare said.
On the speculation about the merger of the two NCP factions, Tatkare said it would not be appropriate to make political statements at Ajit Pawar’s memorial.
Sunetra Pawar is the NCP president and would take decisions on behalf of the party, he said.
To a question,Tatkare said his party should get the Finance department which Ajit Pawar headed when he was a Deputy Chief Minister in the BJP-led government.
“Ajit Dada presented a record number of budgets for the state and made a significant contribution to shaping Maharashtra’s economy in the second decade of the 21st century. Naturally, we should get the finance portfolio. This is our firm stand,” he said.
On NCP leader Praful Patel’s proposed meeting with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar after November 10, Tatkare said there was nothing unusual about such an interaction.
Patel had visited Sharad Pawar at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai last week and indicated that he would meet the veteran leader again after November 10.
(PTI News)
