Sharad Pawar

Sources said the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo visited Adani's office and residence in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

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

He reiterated that though some MLAs have quit the party, they don’t constitute a political unit and the party has not split -- referring to the breakaway faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar.

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. 

Ar a social media meeting organised by the party, Pawar sought to shed light on the motives behind the departure of certain party members, emphasising the role of Enforcement Directorate (ED) inquiries launched by the Centre. 

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."

A party source said that during the meeting of floor leaders of the INDIA bloc on Friday, some of the members raised concerns about Pawar being the chief guest of the function in which Modi is honoured with the Lokmanya Tilak Award. The source added that there were suggestions that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge could speak to the NCP leader to urge and request him not to attend the function.