Cong keeps NCP waiting on Maha alliance

The Congress party today dropped broad hints again that its relationship with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could be on the rocks unless either the NCP decided to merge with it or agreed to its seat-sharing demand in Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.

Last week, the Congress had advised the NCP to merge with it as there was no reason for its existence because of its endorsement of all Congress policies. NCP chief Sharad Pawar had reacted angrily, saying his party needed no advice from the Congress on how to run its politics. Thereafter, Congress general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, Digvijay Singh, was reported to have submitted a report to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, suggesting the party to go alone in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, because the ground situation was conducive to such a move.

The Congress spokesman was asked a series of questions on this subject and did not confirm or deny this line of thinking.

Virtually, the entire Congress unit in Maharashtra would like to break ties with Sharad Pawar because it thinks the NCP is bringing very little to the table, but is riding on the Congress’s credibility.

Especially forceful is former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, while his successor Ashok Chavan and current party chief in the state, Manikrao Thakre, are sitting on the fence.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress president had announced that state units should advise the central party about alliances. Due to this reason, no alliance was struck either with the Samajwadi Party or the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal.

In Maharashtra, the negotiating style of Sharad Pawar has always resulted in the Congress complaining it has been shortchanged in seat allocation.