Cong, like-minded parties to contest 2019 polls as ally, says NCP chief

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar announced here on Thursday that his party, Congress and other like-minded parties would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections as an alliance and that he did not foresee any impediments in seat distribution among the allies for the polls.

Addressing the party workers from his party’s Mumbai unit, Pawar said:  “We have already had talks with the Congress and other like-minded parties and decided to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra as an alliance. I do not foresee any problem in arriving at a seat-sharing arrangement among the various allies for the polls”.

In an apparent effort to enthuse the city party workers ahead of the polls, Pawar said:”We expect to get more number of seats in the tie-up in Mumbai”.

Alluding to party’s organisational issues in Mumbai, Pawar said that the NCP would have to give a “right face” to the party in Mumbai. “We have to give3 a right face to the party in Mumbai— Victories and defeats are part and parcel of electoral politics. But, we have ideology and relationships intact.  Even while taking along with us senior party leaders, we have to give opportunity to new faces,” he said.

Pawar said that in the distribution of tickets, his party would give preference to party activists who worked enthusiastically and those who were popular among various sections of the society.     

It may be recalled that as was the case with the Shiv Sena and BJP, the Congress and NCP had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as an alliance.  While the Congress had contested 26 seats,  the NCP had put up 21 seats.  Of the 26 contested seats, the Congress mere two seats.  The NCP had won four seats out of the 21 seats it had contested.

On the contrary, the BJP had virtually swept the polls by winning 23 out of 24 seats it had contested, while the Shiv Sena had bagged 18 seats out of the 20 seats it had contested.

However, the all the four major political parties - BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP had contested the October 2014 polls on their respective strengths.

Of the total 288 Assembly seats, the BJP had put up candidates in 260 constituencies. It won an all-time high of 122 seats in the polls.

The Shiv Sena walked away with 63 seats out of 282 seats, while the Congress bagged 42 seats out of 287 seats it had contested. The NCP emerged fourth by winning 41 out of 278 it had contested.