Congress split over seat-sharing with ally NCP

CM says deal almost sealed, Thakre says will interview candidates for all 288 Assembly seats

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and state Congress president Manikrao Thakre (Source: Express Archives)

Reflecting the confusion that still clouds the seat-sharing between allies Congress and NCP for the upcoming Assembly polls, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and state Congress president Manikrao Thakre spoke in different voices on Saturday.

Chavan claimed the seat-sharing formula for the 288 Assembly seats had almost been worked out and it would be made public once the model code of conduct was announced. According to him, Congress would contest about 167 seats while NCP will get 121, give and take a few seats.

State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre, however, announced Saturday evening the party’s decision to begin the interviews of party candidates for all the seats fought by NCP in the 2009 Assembly elections.

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In a statement issued here by the state Congress, Thakre said, “On Sunday, we will begin the process of conducting interviews of Congress candidates for the 114 seats contested by NCP in 2009. Till now, we have completed the process of identifying the candidates for 174 seats.”

In 2009, Congress had contested 174 seats, leaving 114 for NCP.

AICC sources said there still were unresolved issues between Congress and NCP and so the state Congress was going ahead with preparations for all 288 seats.

However, a senior minister in the state government said the CM did not want any confrontation with NCP.

NCP’s chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “Finally, the central leaders of Congress and NCP will take a decision. The state Congress’s tough posturing is not going to work in Delhi.”

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