A late-night meeting between leaders of the ruling NCP and the Opposition NCP (SP) at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' official residence has sparked speculation over a possible shift in the state's political equations.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of Congress leader P Chidambaram's claim that the ruling BJP is wooing the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and the DMK to get their support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, which the government intends to bring in the Monsoon session of Parliament.
There has also been buzz about the possible merger of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
According to sources, senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil met Fadnavis at his official residence 'Varsha' in Mumbai late Tuesday night regarding an issue in his Uran-Ishwarpur constituency in Sangli district.
Patil and ruling NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare did not meet the chief minister together, the sources said, declining to elaborate.
The government intends to bring the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill proposing to raise Lok Sabha seats to 850 and initiate delimitation in the Monsoon session of Parliament starting July 20.
Chidambaram, in a post on X on Tuesday, claimed, "After splitting the TMC, the BJP is reportedly wooing the NCP(SP) and the DMK to garner the crucial votes to support the new version of the failed Bill."
The former home minister urged the two regional parties not to support the bill.
He claimed that delimitation of constituencies under the present formula will cause "grave injustice" to the rights of states that had faithfully followed the National Population Policy and contained the growth of the state's population.
"States' rights must be fiercely guarded against the rampaging BJP," the Congress leader said.
(With inputs from PTI)