Congress, NCP to arrive at seat sharing formula, says Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan indicated here today that Congress and NCP would arrive at an agreeable seat sharing formula to jointly fight parliamentary elections in the state.
When asked about Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre seeking a greater share in seat allotment in a departure from last election's 26 seats (Congress) and 22 seats (NCP) formula, Chavan said that there is always a room for a "flexible approach" to hammer out an acceptable solution.
In his recent utterances, Manikrao Thakre had said that the Congress deserves to contest 29 Lok Sabha seats, leaving the remaining 19 seats to the NCP.

To a query whether the same "26-22" seat sharing formula would apply for the next election, he said that he would not like to indulge in any number game, adding that taking a hard stand on the issue during seat sharing talks would not help both parties and flexibility in posture was necessary to reach an understanding.
When asked if he had changed his style of functioning after bitter criticism from NCP chief Sharad Pawar who had alleged that the state administration under Chavan appeared to be paralysed in the absence of speedy clearance of important files, Chavan said, "I always follow my own method of work".

Replying to a question, Chavan admitted that the police investigation into the August 20 murder of rationalist activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune had not been successful so far.
"It seems that the murder was executed by hardened professional killers, who left no concrete proof behind," he said.