Make or break for alliances

Congress has a raised offer for NCP, as well as a Plan B for itself.

Sharad Pawar with Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare at an NCP meeting in Mumbai Monday. ( Source: PTI )

With the NCP refusing to relent, the Congress has readied a fresh proposal and, should that fail, a Plan B. The NCP having rejected an offer of 124 seats, the Congress will Tuesday offer it slightly more than the 128-130 seats it had thought about earlier, sources said.

Simultaneously, sources said, the Congress Monday “discussed and finalised” candidates for all 114 seats the NCP had contested last time. The Congress’s central election committee met at Sonia Gandhi’s home.

“All seats have been discussed, though some have been kept pending both in the NCP quota and ours because of disputes,” a senior leader said. And Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “We are optimists. We want the alliance. But if it does not materialise, we are competent enough to stand on our own.”

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Although a considerable section of the state leadership wants the party to go it alone, the high command is not keen to snap ties unless left without an option. The fresh proposal being readied, a climbdown from what the Congress thought about initially, would still be way short of the 144 the NCP has been demanding. But the NCP, sources said, has indicated it can accept between 134 and 136 seats.

In Mumbai, the NCP’s core committee discussed and rejected the offer of 124 seats, though Sharad Pawar reportedly told leaders that an alliance would be in the party’s interest. NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters, “It has been decided that both the Congress proposal (124 seats) and the NCP proposal (144 seats) will be discussed Tuesday. We are keen to persist with the alliance and hope the Congress sees reason in our demand.”

Congress leaders in Maharashtra believe the NCP’s insistence on 144 has been prompted by exits from its ranks. The Congress is also wary of the NCP quietly supporting rebel candidates in as many as 60 Congress seats to dent the party’s chances, something Patel denied would happen. Asked if a snapping of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance would prompt the Congress and the NCP to go it alone, Patel said again that this was untrue.

Sources also said that with the exception of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s camp, most groups within the NCP favour an alliance. Patel said the NCP had been the Congress’s most responsible ally for 15 years. “Others have come and gone. But the party’s conduct as an alliance partner has been exemplary. We hope the Congress appreciates this and offers a reasonable solution.”

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Sources said the Congress will offer the fresh proposal at a meeting at Varsha, the CM’s bungalow. After that meeting, the state Congress leadership will meet separately. The Congress meetings in Delhi Monday included Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and state party president Manikrao Thakre. Both Chavan and Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel spoke to Praful Patel.