The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have cemented their alliance for the parliamentary bypolls for the Bhandara-Gondiya and Palghar constituencies and for six seats for the Legislative Council elections in Maharashtra.

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According to sources, on Thursday, senior NCP leader Praful Patel and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had a meeting in Delhi where they decided to fight bypolls together. The Gondiya constituency has been vacant since the resignation of rebel BJP MP Nana Patole, who has now joined hands with the Congress. The Palgar Lok Sabha seat has been vacant sicne the demise of BJP MP Chintaman Wanga.

Nawab Malik, the NCP spokesperson, said that the bypoll for the Bhandara-Gondiya seat will be contested by the NCP while Palghar seat by the Congress. "In council elections, the Congress and the NCP will fight on three seats each. We have decided to fight together against the communal RSS-BJP forces in Maharashtra. We do not want our vote banks to get divided. We are confident of winning both, the bypolls and the council polls as well," said Malik.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPM) had already declared its candidate for the Palghar bypoll. "Congress was hoping to make an alliance with the CPM but the CPM has decided to go solo in this bypoll. The CPM had bagged 78,000 votes in 2014 and 92,000 in 2009. The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi has not yet finalised its decision of fighting the bypoll and extending its support. Both these parties play a very crucial role in Palghar polls," confirmed a source in Congress. Interestingly, the BJP seems to have abandoned the late MP Wanga's family. On Thursday, they met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray demanding a ticket for the Palghar bypoll.

A political observer said that this bypoll is very significant because the general elections are just a year ahea. "This is a major poll where people's mood can be gauged easily. Therefore, it is an important poll for the BJP and the Congress-NCP. BJP will try to retain both seats while Congress will try to snatch them. Whether the Sena-BJP alliance will happen or not is also something to watch out for," said an observer.

THE ARRANGEMENT

  • Nawab Malik, the NCP spokesperson, said that the bypoll for the Bhandara-Gondiya seat will be contested by the NCP while Palghar seat by the Congress. “In council elections, the Congress and the NCP will fight on three seats each,” he said