MUMBAI, Feb. 3 -- In the midst of claims and counter-claims on the merger between the two NCP factions, leaders of the NCP (SP) claimed that the tie-up was on the verge of being finalised soon, and that the top BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, had green-lit the move. Details of the talks first emerged when NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar revealed two days ago that the merger was set to be announced on February 12. According to NCP (SP) insiders, NCP chief Ajit Pawar first spoke to Shah about the merger during his visit to Ahilyanagar, where he inaugurated a unit of the Pravara Sugar Factory on October 5. Shah then purportedly spoke to the PM, following which a go-ahead was given on November 14. Talks of the merger, it is believed, started soon after the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur. While Ajit Pawar initiated the talks from NCP, from NCP (SP) the responsibility rested on former state president Jayant Patil. Patil recently said that he had several meetings with Ajit Pawar at his Mumbai residence. NCP (SP) leaders also claimed on Monday that as a reunited party, Pawar senior was supposed to remain the party chief, while the powers of the state would rest with Ajit Pawar. "It was also decided that Baramati MP Supriya Sule would be inducted in PM Modi's cabinet as a minister. They also wanted NCP (SP)'s Shirur MP Amol Kolhe to take up the position of Maharashtra president," revealed a senior leader. He added that the two parties had decided to contest the ongoing Zilla Parishad elections under the NCP symbol - the clock. All top NCP leaders have however consistently denied that any merger had been worked out at all. Rumours of the reunion have been rife since January 28, the day when Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati....