Mumbai, May 20 -- Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar, met political strategist Prashant Kishor on Monday in Mumbai, amid widespread speculation of a tussle with her party's senior leadership. At the two-hour-long meeting, Pawar, accompanied by her elder son and Rajya Sabha MP Parth, and Kishore are believed to have discussed plans to strengthen the party's base across Maharashtra, with the strategist making a preliminary presentation on how this can be achieved. Until recently, the NCP used the services of Delhi-based strategist Naresh Arora's company DesignBoxed. It was Arora's idea to soften the late Ajit Pawar's image by putting him in a pink jacket. A senior party leader who did not want to be named told HT that while details are yet to be worked out, "it is likely that Kishor will be hired to assist Sunetra Pawar." However, another senior leader said that people within the party had advised Parth Pawar against engaging Kishor's services given the bitter relations between the BJP and the strategist. "He has been advised not to hire Kishor because it may not go down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Prashant Kishor is no longer in the BJP's good books, and bringing him on board could upset the party's top leadership," the second leader said, requesting anonymity. Following Monday's meeting Parth Pawar took to X to post that the NCP had not hired Kishor as the party's new strategist. "He (Kishor) has known us since Dada's (Ajit Pawar's) time....