Mumbai: After the defection of Sachin Ahir, political circle was abuzz with reports of senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal returning to Shiv Sena fold. However, the veteran politician refuted the media reports and called them ‘rumours’.

“There is no substance in these media reports and social media posts. It is my request to you (media) to put an end to such reports,” Mr Bhujbal said in Nashik.

Speculations that Mr Bhujbal may join the Shiv Sena gained momentum after Mr Ahir joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led party on Thursday.

Mr Bhujbal added, “The reports of me joining the Sena are totally baseless. They might have emerged from the fact that Ahir’s Worli constituency and my original constituency Byculla constituency are close to each other.”

Incidentally, Mr Bhujbal was one of the key Sena leaders during its initial years. He quit the party in 1991 and joined the Congress. He later walked out of the Congress along with former Union minister Sharad Pawar, when the latter formed the NCP in 1999.

Mr Bhujbal also served as minister in the Congress-NCP government between 1999 and 2014.

There were also reports that the former deputy chief minister is planning to retire from active politics. Such speculations had gone viral on social media too. Nevertheless, he denied these reports too.