Congress, NCP to start seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra polls next week

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will start their seat-sharing talks for Assembly elections in Maharashtra on July 16.

State Congress president Ashok Chavan told reporters here that state unit leaders will discuss the seat-sharing formula between the two parties, and the number of seats to be alloted for other allies.

As to taking along Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, he said the Congress was receptive to the idea.

"The issue of Vanchit Aghadi will be discussed in the July 16 meeting with NCP and then Vanchit leaders will be contacted," he said.

On the BJP's claim that many Congress and NCP MLAs were in contact with it, Chavan said the saffron party had set a bad precedent across the country. "Candidates from other parties are being lured with money and tickets," he alleged.

In 2014, the Congress and NCP contested the assembly elections independently and ended up winning 42 and 41 seats, respectively. They lost power in the state.

The assembly elections are due in October this year. In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won only one seat in Maharashtra while the NCP got only four.