Fadnavis not party to NCP merger talks, has no right to comment: Sharad Pawar
Baramati (PTI): NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was not part of merger discussions between the two Nationalist Congress Party factions and therefore had no right to comment on them.
Speaking to reporters in Baramati, the former Union minister claimed that NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil and his nephew and NCP chief Ajit Pawar had been leading the merger talks.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district on January 28.
After his death, Sharad Pawar and other leaders of his party claimed that merger talks were in advanced stages and Ajit Pawar had finalised February 12 as the date to announce reunification between the rival factions.
CM Fadnavis, however, said if the merger talks were really in progress, then Ajit Pawar would have shared details with him.
Asked about Fadnavis's remarks, Sharad Pawar said, "I do not understand, what right he has to mention my name? As he was nowhere in the merger talks, he has no right to comment on it."
He said that NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil and NCP head Ajit Pawar had been leading the merger talks.
Asked if the merger will take place now, Sharad Pawar said that currently their priority is to support each other and then decide how to go ahead.
"As far as political discussions are concerned, we are not talking to anyone," he added.
To a question on the appointment of Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra as deputy CM after his demise, the senior Pawar said it is a matter of happiness and satisfaction that she got the opportunity to serve in the post.
He, however, denied having any knowledge about a memorial for Ajit Pawar being planned on the premises of Vidya Pratishtan, the educational institution founded by the Pawar family in Baramati.
"I have read about it in the newspapers. There has been no discussion on it yet. We will sit together and decide," he said.
Notably, Kiran Gujar, a close aide of Ajit Pawar and confidant of the Pawar family, on Sunday said the memorial has been planned on the Vidya Pratishthan premises where the NCP leader's last rites were performed.
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Rahul calls Bittu 'traitor', Union minister retorts with 'desh ke dushman' jibe
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday exchanged barbs with former party colleague and union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu in Parliament premises.
In videos released by the Congress, Gandhi was heard calling Bittu "a traitor" and the minister retorting with "desh ke dushman" (enemy of the nation) jibe.
The incident took place right outside Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab.
As soon as he was about to speak, Bittu passed by, and remarked, "they (suspended Congress MPs are sitting here as if they have won a war".
Gandhi hit back, "The thing is, here is a traitor walking right by. Take a look at the face. How he looks."
Gandhi then extended his hand towards Bittu for a handshake, and said, "Hello brother, my traitor friend".
"Don't worry, you will come back (to the Congress)", Gandhi added addressing the Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing.
Bittu, however, declined to shake hands with Gandhi and, while pointing to him, said, "desh ke dushman."
The union minister was seen in the videos springing past the Makar Dwar stairs, repeating his "desh ke dushman" charge while pointing at the Congress leaders and suspended MPs, who continued to jeer at him.
They were also heard saying, "surrender, surrender".
Bittu, the grandson of late Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, was a former MP of the Congress from Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib before he switched sides to the BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
