Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 15 (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party-SCP leader Jayant Patil on Wednesday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the disqualification of the Mayor of Urun-Ishwarpur in his constituency.

Patil clarified that the meeting was strictly related to administrative issues in his segment and also voiced his concerns regarding the proposed increase in the number of legislative seats in the country.

'A few days back, from my constituency, there is a town called Urun-Ishwarpur. Regarding the mayor who got elected by about a 7000-vote margin, somebody approached the collector, and the collector disqualified him. So we wanted to appeal to the government,' Patil said.

'Since Eknath Shinde had gone to Delhi, I had no choice but to meet the Chief Minister. I asked for his time, and he said that I could meet him after 10.30... After a long waiting period, he came out... I explained the issue to him. He said he was not aware of it, but he will take a call, and in two days he will find out why he was disqualified. He said he will contact me again... This was strictly related to my constituency... The mayor, Nagaraj Dixit, was disqualified,' he added.

The NCP-SCP leader also expressed his disapproval regarding the potential expansion of the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

'Increasing the number of MLAs and MPs, I don't agree with that... The plan looks like they want to increase it to 450 MLAs, 543 MPs; this number will increase to 850 or some odd figure...this is my personal opinion.... It entirely depends on what view Supriya Sule, our leader, our other seven MPs and Sharad Pawar hold,' Patil said.

Addressing rumours regarding internal friction, Patil reaffirmed the unity of the party under the veteran leader's guidance.

'Our party is intact. We all are working under Sharad Pawar's leadership, and we are very much together,' he added.

Meanwhile, earlier today, Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut defended NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil's recent meeting with the Chief Minister, stating it was related to the 'illegal disqualification' of a councillor in his constituency and not a political crossover.

'I have been hearing discussions for the past few days about who is joining which party. All these are mere rumours. Praful Patel may have gone abroad to attend the FIFA World Cup or for some other reason. Jayant Patil likely met the Chief Minister regarding the illegal disqualification of a councillor from his Assembly constituency in the Islampur (now known as Ishwarpur) region. This is a serious issue for democracy. Jayant Patil is an important leader of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and also a key leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. These rumours about Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress are being spread deliberately. The BJP and the Shinde faction have not accomplished much, so such rumours are being circulated,' he said. (ANI)