NEW DELHI, June 10 -- Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday to explore ways to deepen ties, even as the TMC top brass dismissed speculation of a merger of the two parties as "baseless".

A senior TMC leader, aware of the details, said the two leaders discussed "a lot of issues including the plans of the INDIA alliance and the way ahead for the two parties".

"There were also some political discussions related to Rahul Gandhi's remarks at the INDIA meeting on vote chori (vote theft)," the leader said, adding that the two leaders also discussed improving coordination among parties of the Opposition bloc.

Abhishek Banerjee's meeting wit...