Amid a standoff over allocation of portfolios in Maharashtra, senior Nationalist Congress Party leaders Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday evening for a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.
Talking to reporters, Patel, the working president of the Nationalist Congress Party, dismissed suggestions about a rift in the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance in Maharashtra and asserted that the issue about the allocation of portfolios has been sorted out and a cabinet expansion in the state will take place in a day or two.
In a surprise development on July 2, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP split as his nephew Ajit Pawar and almost three dozen MLAs joined the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.
Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders were sworn in as ministers.
"Do not read too much into our meetings here. It is just a courtesy call on senior BJP leaders. Ajit dada and myself have not had a formal meeting with the top BJP leadership. We will be meeting Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders here," Patel said. -- PTI