NCP leaders meet CM Fadnavis amid uncertainty after Ajit Pawar's death

Senior NCP leaders on Friday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here, amid uncertainty over the party's future following the death of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a plane crash.

The meeting at the CM's official residence Varsha in south Mumbai, which lasted nearly one and a half hours, was attended by senior NCP leaders, including Chhagan Bhujbal, national working president Praful Patel, state president Sunil Tatkare and former minister Dhananjay Munde, sources said.

According to the sources in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the leaders met Fadnavis to deliberate on the political situation in the state and the way forward for the party after Pawar's sudden demise.

However, it was not immediately clear what transpired during the discussions, and there was no official statement from either side after the meeting.

The NCP, which Pawar headed, the BJP and Shiv Sena are the constituents of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.

NCP minister Narhari Zirwal on Thursday had publicly expressed his wish that Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar be appointed as the deputy chief minister. There has been no official comment from the CM's Office in this regard so far.

According to a close associate of Pawar, he was keen on the merger of the two factions of the NCP and that it was about to happen soon.

Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when the chartered plane carrying them crashed in Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday. The 66-year-old NCP chief, popularly known as 'Dada' (elder brother), was cremated with full state honours in Baramati on Thursday.