Congress seeks more Lok Sabha seats, irks NCP

In what may be another flashpoint in Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) relations after the recent sniping between NCP chief and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and CM Prithviraj Chavan, the Congress is seeking an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats contested by it in alliance with the NCP.

A senior Congress leader told dna that “based on the changing political situation”, they were planning to demand a higher number of Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress, which has 17 MPs from Maharashtra as compared to the NCP’s eight, had contested 26 of the 48 seats in 2009. The two parties have also staked claims on each other’s seats.

A Congress leader said, “The Congress perceives that we need to contest more seats as the allocation in 2009 was based on our performance in 2004. Now, our strength has increased and this must be reflected in our quota of seats.” He pointed out that they had improved their strength in the assembly from 69 in 2004 to 82 in 2009 compared to the NCP’s 71 and 62.

The Congress is planning to seek Hingoli, Kolhapur, Parbhani, Amravati, and one of the two seats in Jalgaon, which are part of the NCP quota, and the NCP has its eyes on Yavatmal, Jalna, Raigad and Palghar. A section of the NCP also wants the Pune Lok Sabha constituency represented by Suresh Kalmadi (Congress).

While Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre hails from Yavatmal, Raigad is former chief minister Abdul Rehman Antulay’s home turf.

An irked NCP leader, while opposing a hike in Congress’s quota, said, “They (Congress) may contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats by snapping our alliance.”

The party pitches Pawar as a putative prime ministerial nominee in case of a fractured mandate and needs to increase its strength in the Lok Sabha.

“We are open to exchanging a few seats. However, the party leaderships will take a decision on this,” he added, stating that a few opposition MPs were likely to join the NCP and, hence, the party would need to claim these segments from the Congress in case they were from the latter’s quota.

NCP chief spokesperson and MLA Nawab Malik said, “The Congress state leadership must follow the 26:22 formula decided in New Delhi.”

An NCP leader said they wanted seat-sharing talks with the Congress to begin soon, failing which they would decide on nominees on their share of seats.