Mumbai, Feb. 2 -- Rubbishing claims made by some leaders of the NCP (SP), including Sharad Pawar, regarding talks of merger with the other NCP faction headed by the late Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash last week, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that had any such pact been on the table, it would surely have been discussed with him and the BJP. "The NCP takes its own decisions. But had any such discussion taken place, Ajitdada would surely have informed me about it. The party is in power with us as part of Mahayuti," Fadnavis said while speaking to reporters at his official residence, Varsha. The deceased leader would share almost everything with him, Fadnavis claimed. "Even a day before his accident, we spoke for over an hour," he said, blaming people whose vested interest had not been served in the developments following Pawar's death for floating a false narrative. Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar was on Saturday sworn in as the deputy chief minister and given charge of the excise, sports and minority affairs portfolios. Following Ajit Pawar's death on January 28, several NCP (SP) leaders claimed that discussions on merger of the two NCP factions were in the final stage and the deceased leader was himself leading the discussions. On Saturday, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar too told reporters in Pune that February 12 was finalised as the date for the merger. The NCP had split in 2023 when a majority of its legislators led by Ajit Pawar broke away from the Sharad Pawar faction and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government. Fadnavis claimed that Ajit Pawar would not have taken any decision on a merger without taking him and the BJP into confidence. "We, as a part of Mahayuti, would definitely want our partner to take us into confidence before taking any such step. Even hypothetically, if Ajit Pawar had been talking to the other faction led by Sharad Pawar, was he planning to walk out of the Mahayuti? His party was stable in the government. He would not have left the ruling alliance. There are people behind these narratives as they want to create confusion using the ecosystem," he said. Fadnavis also said it was the NCP's internal decision to pick Sunetra Pawar for the deputy chief minister's post and the BJP had no role in it. The chief minister also clarified that he retained charge of the finance department which was handled by Ajit Pawar to ensure that presentation of the state budget goes smoothly. "Preparation of the budget is a tedious job, which includes department-wise meetings, discussions on outlay, assessment of demands etc. At this juncture, Sunetra vahini would not have been in a position to handle it. We have collectively, in a meeting with the NCP, decided that I will present the budget and after that, an amicable decision will be made," Fadnavis said. The CM said that he had decided to not campaign for the upcoming district council and panchayat samiti polls on February 7 in the wake of Pawar's death. "I discussed this with my party colleagues that it would not be proper for me to be part of a campaign which involves political jibes," Fadnavis said....