Sharad Pawar rejects speculations about NCP's merger with Congress

MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday set aside recent speculations about NCP's possible merger with Congress, saying that no one knows about his party's position better than him. 

On Tuesday, former home minister and Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde had hinted at the possible merger of NCP with the grand old party as he said that the two parties would come closer in the coming future and the Indian National Congres (INC) would be unified. 

"Ultimately, Congress and NCP, even if these two parties are separate, I tell you from this stage that these parties will come closer in near future and Congress will be unified," ANI quoted Shinde as saying during a campaign rally for an NCP candidate in Solapur, Maharashtra ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. 

Hitting back over Shinde's comments, Pawar said that the Congress leader can speak about his party, but no one is better aware of NCP than him as he is the party chief. 

Stating the reason behind the possible merger of NCP and Congress, Shinde had stated that the foundation of the two parties in the state was same in the past and, therefore, there is a chance of unification in the near future. 

The Assembly elections in Maharashtra is slated to take place on October 21 while the results of the same will be declared on October 24.