Speculation that the NCP (SP) was on its way to join the NDA also gained ground after a photograph of a meeting between Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar made the rounds. File. Credit: X/@mieknathshinde
Only a unified Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is acceptable to the BJP as an NDA ally — this is a message conveyed by the top leadership of the BJP to its allies in Maharashtra, amid speculations that the NCP (SP) [Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar] may reconsider its support to the Delimitation Bill under certain conditions, and that this softening could be a percussor to a wider talk of alliance.According to a senior office bearer of the BJP privy to the matter, the BJP high command is very clear that it does not want any insecurity among its current allies — Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the NCP (led by former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar) — on their position within the NDA bloc. “There is no question of merger of NCP or any party within the BJP, and if any other faction of these parties wants to join the NDA, it has to be a unified entity that then joins the NDA,” the source said.While the BJP has been reaching out for support to various parties to shore up numbers for the Delimitation Bill and the Women’s Reservation Bill, the NDA is expecting a rise in the support from the newly formed NCPI that broke way from the Trinamool Congress, and six MPs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) who have declared that they have joined the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena. The eight MPs of the NCP (SP) would also come in handy in such a scenario.In the midst of all this, however, the outreach to the NCP (SP) has created a few jitters within the other faction of the NCP, that is now led by Maharashtra Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar. “It has been conveyed that there will be no separate joining of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP with the NDA, without the merger of the two factions,” the source added.A major reason for this is the fact that the BJP’s “Madhav” support base, consisting of the OBC Mali, Dhangar and Vanjari communities runs counter to the Maratha support base of the NCP. “Thus, merger of NCP with the BJP itself will be unacceptable to our support base, but as an NDA ally it could work,” the source said.Speculation that the NCP (SP) was on its way to join the NDA also gained ground after a photograph of a meeting between Deputy CM Shinde and NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar made the rounds. That, BJP leaders say was “perception management” by Mr. Pawar. “In order to arrest any feeling that NCP (SP) MPs may have that the party was on the poaching radar of the NDA, Mr. Pawar’s picture was put out, to suggest that all was well, that Sahab (referring to senior Pawar) had negotiations well in hand,” the source said.In April 2026, the government’s Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 – clubbed with the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and a Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill – failed in the Lok Sabha, as it required a two-thirds majority to be passed by Parliament.The Bills had, apart from restarting the delimitation process based on the 2011 census, had sought to operationalise the 33% women’s reservation in legislatures by increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha to around 850 seats and reorganising constituencies, linking women’s quota to a fresh round of delimitation.The journey of that Bill and the BJP’s hunt for enough numbers to ensure its passage has thrown the cat among pigeons in the volatile situation currently prevailing in Maharashtra politics, one that the BJP is trying to manage by being clear about its position. Published - July 17, 2026 05:13 pm IST
