BRS state unit to merge with NCP (SP) for polls
PUNE: Ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, Sharad Pawar’s party has received a boost as the Maharashtra unit of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) has announced its decision to merge with the Nationalist Congress Party (SP). This move is expected to have positive implications for the party particularly in border areas as the elections approach even as BRS faced drubbing during recently held assembly polls in Telangana and the party’s expansion in Maharashtra has been limited.
The announcement followed a meeting between Balasaheb Deshmukh, the state chief coordinator of the BRS Maharashtra unit, and Sharad Pawar in Pune on Tuesday.
Deshmukh highlighted the importance of uniting like-minded parties to address the pressing issues faced by farmers. The formal merger is scheduled for October 6 at a function to be held at Nisarg Mangal Karyalaya in Pune.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Deshmukh said, “After the Telangana state assembly elections, our party leader K. Chandrashekar Rao met with an accident and was hospitalised. As a result, party activities, especially in Maharashtra, came to a halt. We felt it was necessary to make a decision, and after discussions with our state coordinators, we chose to merge our Maharashtra unit with the NCP (SP).”
Deshmukh said that BRS members were initially drawn to KCR’s farmer-centric policies in Telangana, but with no participation in the recent Lok Sabha elections and no clarity for the upcoming assembly elections, the Maharashtra unit felt a merger was the best course of action. Deshmukh and others recently met KCR to communicate their decision.
Before the Lok Sabha elections, the BRS Maharashtra unit held a meeting with district coordinators and office-bearers in Pimpri Chinchwad, deciding to operate individually without party involvement. Many workers chose to support candidates of their choice during the elections.
“NCP (SP) was the natural choice,” Deshmukh said.
“Sharad Pawar has a deep understanding of farmers’ issues, and we believe this is the right direction for us.”
NCP (SP) spokesperson Ankush Kakade confirmed the merger, saying, “Yes, 80-90% of the BRS Maharashtra unit will merge with NCP (SP) on October 6 in Pune. With the BRS no longer in power in Telangana, their unit in Maharashtra had little purpose. This merger seems a practical move.”
Earlier, before the Lok Sabha elections, BRS Maharashtra leader Manik Kadam and his followers joined the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, citing a lack of response from BRS leadership regarding party work in Maharashtra.
