India, Jan. 31 -- Ajit Pawar's uncle and chief of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) said that he was not aware whether his nephew's wife, Sunetra Pawar, was taking oath on Saturday as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra after Ajit Pawar's tragic death in a plane crash on Wednesday.

Pawar senior added that there were talks on merging the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party and that Ajit Pawar was of the view that the merger should happen on February 12.

Sharad Pawar said that the talks of merger were going on for the past four months. He added that it is still their desire that two sides should come together.

The founder of the undivided Nationalist Congress Party admitted that while he was not actively a part...