NCP gives ultimatum to Congress on seat sharing deal

Congress counters say it is free to chart its own path

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday gave an ultimatum to its partner, the Congress, to take a call in the next two to three days on seat sharing in Maharashtra for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

If the Congress failed to respond, NCP leader and Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel declared that his party would convene a meeting to decide the future course of action as the NCP had multiple options to consider.  “I spoke to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and explain the NCP’s stand with regard to seat sharing. We will wait for another two to three days and later discuss future strategy in our party meeting. There are multiple options,” Patel said. He however, declined to divulge further details.

The NCP is insisting on a 22:26 seat sharing formula on the lines of 2009 general elections. It has already launched preparation for 22 seats. However, the Congress has opposed the 22:26 formula saying that NCP's strength has been reduced since the 2009 polls in the state. The Congress has indicated that NCP should be allotted 17 or 21 seats, with an option of exchange of some seats.

Interestingly, Patel’s announcement came close on the heels of a report carried by a Marathi daily on Friday about a secret meeting  between Pawar and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate held two weeks ago in New Delhi. In a tweet, Pawar has termed the report as ‘baseless, mischievious and false’ and denied any meeting with Modi. Meanwhile, Patel said the NCP was still in the UPA and there was no question of joining the NDA.

In response to Patel’s statement, the state Congress unit said that the NCP was free to chart its own path. State Congress Chief Manikrao Thakre said such an ultimatum would not work. He argued that the NCP was free to go its way.