Happy friendship day, NCP wishes 'frenemy' Congress

 Modifying the old adage, 'friends in mutual need are friends indeed' is how the equation between Congress and NCP, the ruling alliance partners, can be described ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls. The 15-year-old alliance has always had its tensions, but both parties are facing an uphill task in the assembly polls after the rout in Lok Sabha elections, and hence a break-up at this juncture would not be easy. State NCP chief Sunil Tatkare today took to the twitter to greet to his Congress friends, a day before the friendship day.

Both Tatkare and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had been saying until recently that NCP would go it alone if Congress did not cede half the seats this time. But NCP chief Sharad Pawar threw a dampener on this aggressive stance at a party meeting, saying that it would be he and Congress president Sonia Gandhi who would take the final decision on seat-sharing. He also asked the state NCP leaders to desist from rocking the boat by attacking Congress.

Congress has said it is ready to give ten more seats than the last time. In 2009, Congress had contested 174 seats while NCP had contested 114. "I wish happy friendship day to @Manikrao Thakare, state president @Mahcongress," Tatkare tweeted this evening. "I wish happy friendship day to all party workers of NCP and Congress as well," said another tweet. "Congress-NCP alliance has given a stable government since 15 years for progress of Maharashtra. Let our friendship remain unbreakable," another tweet said.