Is the Congress-NCP alliance on the rocks? A growing number of voices in both these parties are now demanding that their party should go it alone in the assembly polls if they do not get adequate number of seats. NCP has been demanding more seats than last time and Congress is refusing to concede.
Congress ministers say the growing mood in the party is for fighting it alone and that the two parties would benefit more if that's done. They claim NCP contesting on its own would hurt Shiv Sena and BJP in rural Maharashtra like it happened in 1999 when the saffron alliance govt was voted out.
"Despite NCP's demands and the threat to go it alone, we are not willing to concede more than six to eight seats," a senior Congress leader told dna, adding that if that was not amenable, NCP was free to contest all seats on its own.
In NCP, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra chief Sunil Tatkare are advocates of "go it alone", and party supremo Sharad Pawar too is said to be in an uncompromising mood. NCP is demanding 144 seats, which is almost half of the state assembly strength. Congress leaders have claimed that NCP had scaled it down to 140. In 2009, NCP fought in 114 seats, leaving the rest to Congress
In the present assembly, while Congress has 82 MLAs, NCP has 62. In this year's Lok Sabha polls, Cong-NCP combine lost in 42 of Maharashtra's 48 seats, with Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule and former deputy chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil getting a scare in Baramati and Madha constituencies, respectively.
NCP has been demanding more seats on the grounds that its strength in the Lok Sabha (from Maharashtra) was double (4) that of the Congress (2).
A former Congress union minister admitted that the party would have to concede more seats to NCP, but added that the number was a point of dispute between the allies. "Our central leaders are open to giving NCP 120 seats; we may eventually agree on 124," said a Congress leader.
In 2004, NCP contested 124 seats; but was forced to whittle it down to just 114 in 2009 on basis of "the changed political scenario" after the grand old party had won 17 of the 48 Maharashtra Lok Sabha seats and NCP just eight. In 2009, Congress managed to win 206 LS seats. It's in that contest that NCP leaders are now demanding more than 124 seats!
The Congress functionary also rubbished NCP claims of the situation at ground level favoring NCP. "Congress played a pivotal role in NCP winning in Baramati and Kolhapur," he said.
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