NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar and party MP Supriya Sule met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament on Wednesday, a day after the father-daughter duo joined opposition leaders at the Jantar Mantar protest site over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy.
The Prime Minister's Office confirmed the meeting in a post on X, saying Rajya Sabha MP Pawar and Lok Sabha MP Sule "called on" Modi in Parliament earlier in the day.
The meeting came amid the ongoing Monsoon Session and follows days of intensifying protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and student groups demanding accountability over the alleged NEET paper leak, as well as the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Pawar and Sule had visited the Jantar Mantar protest site on Tuesday, extending their support to the demonstrators, days after police used force against agitating students, an incident that triggered widespread anger across the country.
Pawar, in remarks made around the protest, urged the Centre to "sensitively consider the demands" of the protesting students rather than "suppressing" those demonstrating peacefully, invoking constitutional protections for citizens' rights.
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The meeting with the Prime Minister has fuelled speculation in political circles, particularly given recent reports of back-channel discussions between NCP (SCP) and the ruling NCP-BJP combine in Maharashtra.
Sule had last week publicly denied any proposal for her faction to align with the NDA or reunite with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, dismissing the speculation that had gained traction after separate meetings in Mumbai involving NCP (SCP) leader Jayant Patil, NCP's Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Neither Pawar's office nor the Prime Minister's Office has disclosed further details of what was discussed during the Wednesday meeting.
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