Mumbai: State NCP (SP) president Jayant Patil’s meeting with BJP counterpart and revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Tuesday sparked speculation in political circles that Patil may be on his way to BJP. Patil denied the reports, saying he met Bawankule but for routine works in his constituency. “I met Bawankule in the presence of minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and my staff. There was no political discussion. The meeting was for issues in my constituency. I brought to his notice glitches in computerization of land records,” Patil said. Ever since Eknath Shinde became CM in 2022, there was speculation that Jayant Patil may join BJP. For a long time, there was no development, but speculation restarted after Devendra Fadnavis took over as CM after the assembly polls. Patil further said, “I have given Bawankule 13-14 letters on different issues.” – Prafulla Marpakwar