Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Saturday said there was no proposal for his outfit to merge with the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar, reported The Indian Express.

After NCP president and Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on January 28, several reports had said that the group was considering a merger with the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

“If you ask me, there is no such proposal for merger before us,” Bhujbal was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “Moreover, we have a captain. All the decisions will take place accordingly.”

On January 31, Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar was elected as the leader of the legislative party of the NCP faction that Ajit Pawar led.

Ajit Pawar died when a small aircraft crashed near an airstrip in Baramati town during its second attempt to land after having initiated a go-around. Two pilots, a flight attendant and Ajit Pawar’s security officer were the others who died in the incident.

The cause of the crash was unclear. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, a unit of the civil aviation ministry, is investigating the incident.

In 2023, Ajit Pawar, along with several party MLAs, joined Maharashtra’s Mahayuti coalition government comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde.

The move had led to a split in the NCP, with one faction supporting him and the other backing his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar.

The two NCP factions had in January contested the municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad in an alliance.

On Saturday, NCP(SP) state president Shashikant Shinde said that they would not talk about any merger at the moment, reported Hindustan Times.

NCP national working president Praful Patel was quoted as saying by the newspaper that the party’s priority was “to stand with Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar”.

“She is our leader and our priority is to work together to strengthen the party under her leadership,” he said.