Mumbai, July 18 -- Maharashtra Congress MLA Nana Patole said that NCP(SCP) Legislative Party leader Jayant Patil has denied quitting the INDIA bloc amid speculations about a merger between the two Nationalist Congress Party factions.

Nana Patole called the merger of NCP factions an internal matter of the parties, stating that Congress does not need to worry.

Patole told ANI, "I spoke to Jayant Patil myself yesterday. He said they wouldn't leave; they would remain with the INDIA bloc. That is what he told me. These are merely speculations. Since that is what he said, I feel there is no reason to discuss it further. Since this is just speculation, there is no reason for us to get into it. Whether it concerns the Ajit Pawar faction or the ...