The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have finally sealed the alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls.
NCP president Sharad Pawar confirmed the development in an interview to The Hindu, when asked if the two parties are likely to form a partnership.
“Myself and Rahul Gandhi have had three meetings. We have come to the conclusion to contest the elections jointly. This is the clear understanding between the chiefs of the Congress and the NCP. We both have communicated this to State leaders and both parties will sit together and finalise the seat-sharing within a week,” said Mr. Pawar.
“Party presidents will interfere only in case of a serious conflict on the seats. The elections in Maharashtra will be fought jointly by the Congress, NCP, PWP and other Republican parties,” he added, when asked whether the two leaders will play an active part in the seat-sharing negotiations.
The two parties that were together during the Congress-led UPA’s tenure from 2004 to 2014, had fought the last Lok Sabha polls jointly but opted to contest the Assembly elections in Maharashtra independently. This time, they will join forces for the State polls too.
No CM candidate
“We will not project a CM candidate in Maharashtra. This is not how we work. We will work together, contest together, help each other and will decide after the elections,” said Mr. Pawar.
Asked if he regrets lending support to the BJP-led government under CM Devendra Fadnavis in the State, Mr. Pawar said, “Our aim at that time was to keep the BJP and Shiv Sena apart. I do not know whether they will fight together now, but we are going to contest as a front comprising Congress, NCP, PWP, Left and Republican parties.”
The Shiv Sena remains a part of the Fadnavis government but has announced it will no longer combine forces with the BJP in the coming polls.
The NCP president stressed he will not be taking the lead in meeting leaders like Prakash Ambedkar with an invitation to join the united front against the BJP. “This is the job of the State leadership,” he said.
The NCP chief also said that the strong opposition to large investment projects like the Nanar oil refinery and the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway, is driven largely by the lack of enough information about the projects to the people. “There are concerns... The government does not take people into confidence,” he said.