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Updated: Jun 01, 2019 23:53 IST

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar dismissed on Saturday the speculation that his party was likely to merge with the Congress.

Pawar made the announcement during a general body meeting of the party convened to discuss the Lok Sabha debacle and review preparations for the Maharashtra Assembly polls. “The reports of the merger of our party with the Congress were shocking for us as there was not discussion on these lines either in Delhi or in Mumbai...I want to clarify here that there are no such talk or plans of any merger with any party. We are a prime party in the state with independent entity and will remain to be so,” he said.

Senior party leader Ajit Pawar, too, dismissed the reports and assured party workers that the party would not take any important decision without taking the state and district level leaders into confidence. The speculation about a possible merger had begun after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi met Pawar in Delhi after the Lok Sabha results.

Analysing the LS election debacle, the NCP chief highlighted the speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during campaigning and how reiterations of the February 14 Pulwama attack and the retaliatory air strike on Balakot struck a chord. “His (Modi’s) entire campaign was on the non-development issues, while we kept talking about the issues that were directly related to the common man. Nevertheless, the Assembly results will be different...”

About the Maharashtra polls, which are due this year, the party leaders have decided to finalise alliance and seat-sharing talks and begin campaigning. Ajit Pawar said: “We have hardly 100 days left... We have decided to finalise the seat sharing with the Congress and other smaller allies at the earliest. The party will fix responsibility of the regions.”

“The speculative reports about the merger of two parties were based on the meeting between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar two days ago in Delhi. Nothing is known about the discussion between the two leaders. Leaders in Maharashtra are not aware of any such development,” said Sachin Sawant, Maharashtra Congress general secretary.