New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- A formal announcement of the reunification of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was scheduled to be announced on 8 February, days before Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash.

The merger talks were in an advanced stage, and the leaders from both sides were preparing for a formal announcement following the zilla parishad election results, a report in the Indian Express said.

After contesting the 15 January civic elections in Pune and Pimpri Chichwad together, the two factions decided to continue the tie-up for the next month's Zilla Parishad elections on 5 February too. Both factions had agreed to contest under Ajit Pawar's faction's 'clock' symbol.

In fact, Ajit ...