Parth Pawar meets Devendra Fadnavis amid buzz over merger and Cabinet expansion

A meeting between Parth Pawar the elder son of late Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has triggered fresh political speculation in the stateThe meeting held at the Chief Ministers official residence Varsha on Thursday night came amid ongoing discussions over recent interactions between senior NCP leaders and the BJP leadershipNeither the Chief Ministers Office nor the NCP has officially disclosed the agenda of the meeting However party leaders have denied reports of internal differences and maintained that the party remains unitedParth Pawar meets Fadnavis at VarshaAccording to sources Parth Pawar met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Varsha bungalow on Thursday evening The discussion is believed to have centred on recent political developments following an earlier meeting between NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel with the Chief MinisterThe meeting reportedly surprised some leaders within the NCP leading to speculation that party president Sunetra Pawar had sought clarification from Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare regarding the earlier interaction with FadnavisTatkare however denied that there was any political significance attached to the meeting and rejected suggestions of any misunderstanding within the party leadershipTatkare rejects reports of internal differencesAddressing a press conference on Thursday Tatkare dismissed speculation that Sunetra Pawar had been kept uninformed about his meeting with FadnavisThis is an internal party matter and there is absolutely no room for doublemindedness Sunetra Pawar is our National President We regularly update her on all necessary developments Our communication and tuning are excellentHe said there was no rift within the party and that all important political developments are communicated to the party leadershipDrawing a comparison with his long association with the late Ajit Pawar Tatkare said the coordination within the party continues to remain smoothHowever whenever there is a political matter or something concerning the party we discuss it comprehensively Sunetra Pawar is always informed about political meetings beforehand and a detailed briefing is given to her afterward he explained adding that having spent 40 years in politics he is wellaware of political protocolMeeting with Chief Minister was administrative says TatkareTatkare clarified that his meeting with Fadnavis should not be viewed through a political lens saying it was primarily related to development works concerning his parliamentary constituencyI am a Member of Parliament and I have various developmental works related to my constituency I had some proposals that needed to be routed through the state government to Delhi It is neither practical nor expected to inform everyone about routine administrative worksHe added that Praful Patel accompanied him because Patel was scheduled to travel abroad and wanted to complete discussions related to constituency matters before leavingTatkare also said he had sought an appointment with the Chief Minister a day earlier and the meeting coincided with the BJP Core Committee meetingTatkare denies reports involving Jayant PatilResponding to reports that senior NCP Sharad Pawar faction leader Jayant Patil was present at Varsha during the meeting Tatkare categorically denied the claimSpeculation had emerged that the Sharad Pawarled NCP could be exploring a possible alignment with the NDA after reports suggested Patil had met Fadnavis alongside Tatkare and Patel NCP Sharad Pawar faction leader Supriya Sule had earlier dismissed the reportsTatkare reiterated that there was no joint meetingJayant Patil was not present during our meeting with Devendra Fadnavis nor did we meet him there I fail to understand the logic behind the rumours that Jayant Patil joined us to demand the Finance portfolio Jayant Rao has already clarified the purpose of his independent visit He is a senior selfmade leader who has previously handled the states finance ministry Our meeting had absolutely no connection with his visitParty to discuss legal response in DelhiTatkare also addressed questions regarding legal notices and earlier discussions on a possible party merger that had begun during Ajit Pawars tenureHe said those discussions had reached an advanced stage but were later halted following Ajit Pawars deathTatkare announced that he Parth Pawar and Praful Patel will travel to Delhi on Sunday to discuss the partys legal response to a notice issued by former national secretary Sachidanand SinghWhile the backtoback meetings involving senior NCP leaders and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have fuelled political speculation party leaders have maintained that there are no internal differences and that the interactions were either administrative or related to routine organisational matters