(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) UNCERTAINTY continues to prevail over the future of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance in Maharashtra despite assurances from Sharad Pawar the NCP chief that the two parties would contest forthcoming elections jointly.Pawar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday following which he declared that the two parties would continue with their alliance for the Maharashtra assembly elections due to be held in October.
But leaders of both parties in Maharashtra are vehemently opposed to the continuation of the alliance which was stitched up way back in 1999. NCP leaders including Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar are demanding more seats from the Congress.
The two parties have an agreement which has held good all these years under which the Congress contests from 174 seats and the NCP from the remaining 114 seats. However after the recent general elections - when the NCP won four seats out of the 48 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra and the Congress could win just two — the NCP has become aggressive and is demanding implementation of the 50:50 formula.
NCP leaders have told the Congress that talks on electoral understanding can proceed only if the Congress were to agree to allow the NCP put up candidates in 144 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra. NCP leaders across the state are demanding a higher share of the seats in the state.
But Congress leaders led by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan are opposed to extending concessions to the NCP. Both parties are facing pressures from within their cadres and they find it difficult to accommodate all the ticket-seekers.
Pawar’s meeting with Sonia on Wednesday assumes significance as the talks between the state Congress and NCP leaders are not progressing with both sides sticking to their respective demands.
Of course the National Democratic Alliance (comprising the BJP and the Shiv Sena) is also facing problems. In the past the Shiv Sena contested from 171 seats and the BJP from 117. However this time the BJP is demanding a higher number of seats. In the recent general elections the party won in 22 of the 48 seats while the Sena won 18 seats.
Two other junior partners of the NDA — the Republic Party of India (Athawale) and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana — are demanding nearly 80 seats out of the 288 reducing the seats for the BJP and the Sena. Many in the state BJP are confident that the party would fare well if it were to contest all 288 seats on its own.
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