New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma has dismissed rumours about his joining the ruling BJP which started doing the rounds after his meeting with BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Thursday. Rejecting speculations, Sharma said that if he had to, he would do so openly as he and Nadda hailed from Himachal Pradesh and studied at the same university.


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Speaking to reporters, the Congress leader said he had "old social and family ties" with Nadda, adding that "I am proud that someone who comes from my state and university is president of the ruling party."


"Ideological differences do not mean personal enmity or apartheid.... If I have to meet J P Nadda, I would do so openly. It is my right. I will not air speculation," he said while replying to questions about his reported meeting with the BJP chief.


Sharma, a former Union minister, further informed that the Himachal Pradesh University Alumni Association had invited him and Nadda to felicitate them. The Congress leader added he had a discussion with Nadda over the phone about attending the meeting.


Sharma is a prominent member of the G-23 grouping of Congress leaders who had sought organisational overhaul and been critical of some decisions of the party leadership. However, this is not the first time that Sharma is rumoured to have met BJP chief Nadda.