NASHIK: Federal Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar yesterday toughened his stance over seat-sharing with the Congress party for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
He urged the Congress to take a lead in declaring national-level, prepoll alliances with its partners and demanded 24 seats for NCP to contest in Maharashtra.
“As a big party, the Congress should come out with the prepoll alliance and alliance partners should get a chance to contest from constituencies in which they are strong,” he said, addressing the party’s crucial state-level convention here.
Pawar said although he has spoken to different parties like Jayalalitha’s AIADMK and N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), no final decision has been taken.
“The NCP does not want to fight the elections on its own. For the present, we are with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA),” he said.
Toughening the party’s stance on the issue of getting a 50 percent share of seats in Maharashtra, he said that if the Congress did not relent, then the NCP would have to rethink the issue, an indication that his party may forge an alliance with Shiv Sena.
“We are keen to forge an alliance with the Congress. However, if they do not go in an alliance with us, then we will have to go with other political parties for the parliamentary elections, which we do not wish to do.”
Pawar added that on the national level, “We have requested the Congress to give the NCP one seat each in Kerala, Goa, Lakshdweep, Haryana, Assam, Meghalya, Manipur, Orissa, while two seats each in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat and three seats in Bihar.
Addressing the convention, state Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal urged the Congress to give 50 percent seats and share the chief minister’s post for the forthcoming assembly elections, due later this year.
Justifying the demand, Bhujbal said that this was in view of the fact that the NCP’s strength had grown as compared to the Congress. “In such a situation, why should we settle for a secondary position?” he asked.
