The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has dismissed reports of a possible merger with the rival NCP faction as "completely false", with party spokesperson Pravin Kunte Patil saying it would not merge with any other political party.

In a statement issued in Nagpur on Saturday, Pravin Kunte Patil alleged that reports about a possible reunion of the two factions were being deliberately circulated in the media to divert public attention from pressing issues facing Maharashtra.