NCP

Recently elected unopposed to the upper house during the biennial elections in Maharashtra, Patel is poised to commence a fresh six-year term come April.

An informed source said that detailed discussions were held on several issues, during which the seat sharing matter also came up.

The CPI-M will give the name of its party leader for the committee later. The sources also said that the first meeting of the Campaign Committee will take place on Tuesday evening at Milap Building in the national capital.

Congress state president Nana Patole said that after meeting Pawar Sr., Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar may have expressed a desire to return to the NCP.  "Sharad Pawar is a senior and experienced leader. From his statements, it appears that he has succeeded in changing Ajit Pawar's mind and he will soon return to his party," said Patole. 

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, Pawar said: "On August 15, PM Modi said 'I'll come back again'. I want to tell him that a similar promise was made by Maharashtra's former CM Devendra Fadnavis, who indeed returned to power but at a lower position."

Ajit Pawar, who heads the breakaway NCP faction, said that Patil was in Mumbai with NCP President Sharad Pawar and not in Pune as speculated. Patil himself dismissed the reports that he had met Shah and was now on way to joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The NCP supremo, who was scheduled to reach Bengaluru on Monday, postponed his trip by a day for certain reasons and hence will not be joining the Opposition dinner there tonight. “Pawar Saheb and Supriya Sule are reaching Bengaluru tomorrow morning and shall attend the main Opposition meeting,” NCP National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto told IANS, scotching all the hearsay to the contrary.