In a significant political remark amid Thursday’s Baramati Assembly bypoll, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rohit Pawar said that a merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would have been possible, and potentially propelled Ajit Pawar to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s post in 2029, had he been alive.

Speaking to the media after casting his vote in Baramati, Rohit Pawar said there was now little relevance in reviving discussions about a merger following the former Maharashtra Deputy CM’s death.