Congress ready to compromise, but NCP remains adamant, says Manikrao Thakre

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre said here on Sunday that the Congress is ready to consider suggestions of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) over the seat sharing issue but if they remain adamant on particular figures then things will not work out this way.

Reacting to the 24 hour ultimatum given by the NCP to the Congress to decide over the seat sharing issue, Thakre said, "Giving an ultimatum is not right. We have told them the number of seats we are willing to give them, but they haven't replied over this so far so they should reply to this."

"However, it's a different matter if we fight elections separately. But we want to fight together and we are trying for that. We are ready to leave few seats according to their proposal but the way they are talking it feels as if they are intact on their stand and things will not work out like this," he added.

"It's the NCP which is demanding seats, although we don't have any reason to leave the seats but we are trying to think over their suggestion so that we can go together for the elections. But we cannot give them all the seats which they want us to and it's not right to talk this way that we are not listening to them. We are leaving seats, we are not being arrogant, we want to accommodate. By evening we will try to come out with some solution," Thakre added.

Yesterday, NCP leader Praful Patel appeared to send an unmistakable signal to the Congress party that it should offer more seats to his party in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls and asked the latter to take a decision within 24 hours.

The Congress has reportedly offered only 125 seats to its ally keeping the rest of the seats with itself to contest in the upcoming state assembly polls.

The stalemate between the Congress and NCP over seat sharing is brewing with the latter not willing to contest in less than 136 seats.

During the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Congress had contested in 174 seats while the NCP had fought in 114 seats.

The polling for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra is scheduled to be held on October 15 while the counting of votes will take place on October 19.