The Congress leadership on Friday indicated that the ball was in the NCP court as far as the final decision related to alliance in the 10 civic elections ball is concerned.
The Congress leadership on Friday indicated that the ball was in the NCP court as far as the final decision related to alliance in the 10 civic elections ball is concerned.
Although both chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre have been quick to take the initiative of holding parleys with the NCP state leadership, Congress leaders suspect that the NCP nod for the alliance may not be uniform in all the 10 civic bodies. In fact, insiders indicate that in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Amravati, Nagpur, Akola and Solapur there are voices of reservation over forging a Congress-NCP alliance in corporation elections.
“The central leadership of Congress and NCP may have appealed for the alliance to help averting split in secular votes, but unless the local leaders are willing to trust each other, the alliance is unlikely to work on ground,” said a MPCC general secretary. As for the NCP, its political managers revealed, “Although we are keen on an alliance in Mumbai, Thane and Nashik, we clearly see some problems in Pune and Pimpri-Chichwad, where even if an alliance is declared it may not work in reality.” In Pimpri-Chichwad, Congress and NCP were often seen working against each other by seeking the covert help of opposition parties, namely Shiv Sena and BJP.”
Similarly, NCP leaders questioning the alliance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation argued that the Congress, which gains more from the tie-up, has always treated them badly. “NCP stakes in the BMC are not as high as the Congress, but if we tie up we provide Congress strength in at least 45-50 seats. We are reconciled in the fact that we will manage to win just 15-20 seats. With Congress support, the numbers may go up to 30 seats. But, if we don’t have an tie-up, the Congress will lose 45-50 seats.”
However, the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee officials have dismissed the argument as baseless, saying, “The Congress has the loyal votebank that easily transfers to NCP when we are in alliance, whereas the NCP cannot claim the same about transferring of their votes to us.”
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