Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sunetra Pawar has called a key party meeting on Tuesday amid reports of growing internal differences, which gained momentum after a section of party leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday.
The NCP is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Tuesday's meeting comes a day after an internal party meeting on Monday evening, during which several senior leaders reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of Sunetra and her son and Rajya Sabha MP, Parth Pawar. They also stressed the need to take everyone along and give due importance to experience and seniority.
Senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, however, sought to play down reports of differences within the party, saying the meeting with Shah had been planned in advance.
"There is no discontent within the party... The Delhi meeting was pre-planned; all our leaders are united," he said, adding that Tuesday's meeting would deliberate on the future course of action and organisational expansion.
Tatkare also ruled out a merger of the two NCP factions, saying discussions on the issue had already ended.
There were reports that Shah and the BJP leadership wanted the two NCP factions to merge and remain part of the NDA. However, NCP leaders were reportedly not in favour of the proposal.
NCP national working president Praful Patel, Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare, ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, and leaders Dhananjay Munde and Dilip Patil were part of the delegation that met Shah.
An unnamed senior party leader told PTI that the delegation met Shah to discuss ways to improve coordination between the NCP and other constituents of the Mahayuti alliance.
Earlier, NCP national chief spokesperson Umesh Patil dismissed reports claiming that Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar had been sidelined during the discussions in Delhi, describing the claims as "incorrect, baseless and misleading".
Meanwhile, the NCP leaders who met Shah in Delhi have returned to Mumbai and held a series of closed-door discussions at the residence of state minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
