The likely alliance between the Congress and the NCP for the upcoming legislative council elections in Maharashtra seems to be in jeopardy with the NCP all set to field"its nominee for the Latur-Beed-Osmanabad local body seat, which is currently held by the Congress.
Dilip Deshmukh, the brother of late chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, is the sitting MLC from the seat.
Maharashtra state Congress unit president Ashok Chavan had on Sunday said that discussions were on with the NCP over the Latur seat only, a day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said that respective parties would contest the seats they are holding currently in the upcoming legislative council polls.
The NCP has staked the claim for the Latur seat on the grounds that the party has more numbers on its side than the Congress in all the three local bodies currently under its belt.
The Congress had said that the NCP was not united and that a faction of the party is supporting the BJP.
NCP sources said today that Ramesh Karad, a close aide of Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde (BJP), will be the party's candidate for the Latur-Beed-Osmanabad seat.
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Karad joined the NCP today in presence of Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council.
The biennial elections to the Legislative Council from six local bodies' constituencies will be held on May 21.
The six local authorities constituencies going to polls are: Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Parbhani-Hingoli, Amravati, and Latur-Beed-Osmanabad.
Out of these six seats, three are currently held by the NCP, two by the BJP and one by the Congress.
In Nashik, Shivaji Sahane, who was expelled by the Shiv Sena, will be the nominee of the NCP in place of sitting MLC Jayant Jadhav.
While Aniket Tatkare will be the NCP candidate from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg local bodies seat in place of Anil Tatkare, Abdullah Khan Durrani is renominated for Parbhani-Hingoli seat.
When asked if the NCP naming its nominee for Latur meant that there is no scope for alliance with the Congress, the sources said the Sharad Pawar-led party had demanded to conest Parbhani-Hingoli, Nashik, and Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seats, which the party is holding currently, besides Latur-Beed-Osmanabad seat.
"This demand was put before Congress president Rahul Gandhi when he had met Sharad Pawar. Gandhi assigned AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot to hold discussions. Gehlot said he would get back to us. We are hoping to hear from him by this evening," the NCP sources said.
May 3 is the last date of filing of nomination papers for the polls.
Meanwhile, the Congress is yet to announce a list of the party candidates.
State Congress president Ashok Chavan had said that the NCP's insistence for the Latur-Beed-Osmanabad seat delayed the seat sharing talks.