Following the aligning of Opposition parties in two different meetings, one led by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and other by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the two parties are looking forward to stitch an alliance for the forthcoming Assembly polls and thereafter, the General Elections in 2019.
AICC sources said the alliance is on the cards but the party High Command is taking time to approve. "Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has already been briefed about the meeting in Mumbai of the two parties' State leaders where primarily there was a discussion on the pending by-elections for two Parliamentary seats and 21 legislative council seats in Maharashtra," Congress sources said.
The Congress and the NCP were alliance partners during the 10 years of Monmohan Singh led UPA regime but parted ways ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls when Pawar was also hobnobbing about a possible alliance with the BJP that, however, did not materialise.
While an NCP leader said the party was keen to have a tie-up, but differences had to be first ironed out, efforts are also on in the Congress to reach out to other like-minded parties in the State. The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, led by MP Raju Shetti, is one such potential ally. The prospect of the Shiv Sena joining forces with the Congress and NCP combine is a tedious task in the wake of growing resentment between the Sena and BJP as NDA partners both in Centre and State currently.
A senior Congress leader said the grand old party is in fact pondering on issues like the strengths and weaknesses of a probable alliance with Pawar for the 2019 general elections and before that state poll. "If the two parties come together the Congress would pitch for a new formula to be followed for the coalition with NCP. Sharing of not just seats, but portfolios, too, would need to be reviewed before a pact is inked," the leader said.
"In the previous Congress-NCP Governments, the NCP had key departments in the State Government with it. We won't settle for a raw deal. In case the deal happens, it should happen in a harmonious manner," the leader added.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has already pitched for Sena and announced if it wanted to join hands with anti-BJP parties, it would have to first snap its ties with the NDA and quit power. "The Shiv Sena continues to be in power at the Central and State levels. The tussle between the Shiv Sena and the BJP is more of a game of one-upmanship. It is not an ideological one. So, there is no possibility of aligning with Shiv Sena," said a Congress leader from Maharashtra.