Putting the Congress on notice, NCP President Sharad Pawar has asked it to clarify well before the filing of nomination papers whether it is ready for a nationwide alliance with the smaller constituents of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Otherwise, he says, they will be free to contest elections against the Congress in those states where they don’t have a seat-sharing adjustment with the party.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting of his party’s MPs, MLAs and district unit presidents, Pawar listed the number of seats in various states which the NCP wished to contest. “If the Congress doesn’t accommodate us on these seats, then we are free to have truck with regional parties in these states, like the
TDP in Andhra Pradesh, AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the Left Front in Kerala.
Pawar listed out some 21 Lok Sabha seats in various states including Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. “I don’t think the total number of seats which the various UPA partners from various states want would exceed 50. Considering the fact that the Congress, after contesting around 400 seats last time, only got 145 seats, it lost around 250 seats. If it leaves some of these seats, it will be the UPA whose strength will go up,” he said.
“However, if we have to contest election against the Congress, that means we will have to speak out against the Congress, which will only create confusion and parties like the BJP will benefit from this situation,” he warned.
Replying to a question about the possibility of an alliance with the Shiv Sena, Pawar did not categorically rule out the possibility. “We hope the Congress will not create a situation which will force us to consider other options in Maharashtra,” he said.
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Speaking about seat-sharing talks with the Congress, Pawar suggested the party was making unrealistic claims and said, “The Congress is staking claim on the Dindori Lok Sabha seat in Nashik district in which out of six MLAs, five MLAs belong to the NCP.”
Supporting the cause of Maratha reservation, on which Maharashtra has seen a number of agitations in the recent past, Pawar said, “A large section of the Maratha and Muslim communities is socially backward and live in abject poverty, so there is no harm in giving the reservation to these communities without diluting the reservation given to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the OBCs.”
“In fact, I will be asking the state government that it should consider giving reservations to Marathas and Muslims in the state-run education institutions and jobs before the Assembly elections,” he said.