NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed "working together" but he rejected the offer. Pawar made the claim in an interview to a Marathi TV channel on Monday.
"Modi had offered me to work together. I told him that our personal relations are very good and they will remain that way but it is not possible for me to work together," Pawar said.
Pawar dismissed reports that Modi government offered to make him India's President. "But there surely was an offer to make Supriya Sule a minister in the Modi-led cabinet," he added.
Supriya Sule is Pawar's daughter and a Lok Sabha member from Baramati in Pune district. Pawar had met Modi last month amid the dramatic developments over government formation in Maharashtra.
Modi has always praised Pawar and made it a point not to launch a vicious attack against him during the state election campaign.
Modi's latest praise for Pawar came last month when he was speaking on the occasion of 250th session of the Rajya Sabha. Modi said other parties, including the BJP, should learn from the NCP on how to adhere to parliamentary norms.
In 2016, when Modi visited the Vasantdada Sugar Institute in Pune on an invitation from Pawar, he had praised the NCP chief as an example to others in public life.
"I have personal respect for Pawar. I was the Gujarat chief minister that time. He helped me walk by holding my finger. I feel proud to pronounce this publicly," Modi had said.