Of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress and NCP split them 26:22, the aim being to ensure a division of their common supporters in the state
An internal report of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) claims that its alliance partner, the Nationalist Congress Part (NCP), worked against the Congress in at least ten out of the 26 seats the party contested in the state.
Of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress and NCP split them 26:22, the aim being to ensure a division of their common supporters in the state. But more than midway through the five-phase elections on April 30, the Congress feels the NCP did not play fair.
The Congress’s top state leadership under state chief Manickrao Thackre in the state met on Friday to review the situation. In the closed-door meeting, sources said top leaders had voiced concern at the NCP’s double standards which they fear could affect the party’s electoral results.
A Congress source said, “We have seen NCP local leaders openly work against Congress candidates in Mumbai South, Mumbai North-Central, Nandurbar, Dhule, Pune, Aurangabad, Nanded, Latur, Bhiwandi, and Sangli.”
NCP leaders are dismisses the charges as baseless. NCP general secretary Gurunath Kulkarni pointed out that Sharad Pawar had addressed more than 135 election rallies in state. “He aggressively campaigned for all the Congress candidates in all the three phases across Vidarbha, Marathwada, North Maharashtra, Western Maharashtra, Konkan, and Mumbai-Thane. Several NCP leaders also campaigned for the Congress candidates,” he said.
NCP spokesperson Prakash Bhinsale added, “From Milind Deora (Mumbai-South) to Priya Dutt (Mumbai North-Central) et al, Pawar campaigned for all the Congress candidates. There was a perfect coordination between us.”
But an AICC general secretary had a different story to tell. “I have received complaints from Congress leaders about the non-cooperation of the NCP in their respective constituencies. We feel it would have been better if we had contested the elections alone as suggested by former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,” he stated.
The in-house report, which has been submitted to the central leadership in New Delhi, says the party is confident of winning 12 of its 26 seats. It further adds that it has good chances in another four seats. The report further says it will win more seats than the NCP.
Incidentally, in the 2004 polls, the Congress won 13 seats while its ally, the NCP, bagged 9 and the Republican Party of India (Athavale), another ally, picked up one seat.
The internal report is based on assessments received from all the constituencies after the completion of elections in the state. As per the assessments, the local leaders have said that the NCP backed Samajwadi Party (SP) in eight crucial constituencies, seeking to weaning away the minorities’ backing the Congress.
A Congress leader asked, “Does this not indicate double standards? Can anyone disobey Sharad Pawar in the NCP?”
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