India, Feb. 2 -- Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel on Sunday denied reports that he had been appointed the party's national president, calling the claims "totally baseless" and lacking any truth. Maharashtra NCP chief Sunil Tatkare also said no such decision had been taken.

The clarification came after Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal made remarks in an interview to PTI suggesting that Patel had been named NCP president following the death of party chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Goyal later withdrew the statement, saying it was based on incorrect information.

In the PTI interview, Goyal had spoken about the prospects of a merger between the two NCP factions and said that the party ...