India, July 29 -- Reports of meetings between NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week - followed by discussions with NCP leaders Praful Patel and Parth Pawar - revived speculations of the two rival factions reuniting or the Pawar faction aligning with the ruling NDA. However, on Tuesday, the veteran politician ruled out any possibility of a merger of the two factions. Similarly, his grand-nephew and party MLA Rohit Pawar dismissed the likelihood of the party joining NDA.

Pawar met the prime minster accompanied by his daughter and the party's national working president Supriya Sule on July 22, in the midst of protests by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at the Jantar Mantar. The two NCP leaders called on Paw...