Congress to hold CEC meeting for Maharashtra

Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said that the party will hold a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting shortly to decide the allocation of seats in the upcoming legislative assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Speaking to ANI, Chavan said, "We will hold a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting. Only after that will a final call be taken."

Chavan also confirmed that the negotiations with their allies in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) over the distribution of seats in the state is nearly finalised. "The negotiation with the NCP is at its final stages and we will be able to figure out how many seats we will fight from. We have received applications from every seat. Right now we have merely shortlisted the candidates and we have discussed amongst ourselves but no final decision has been taken," he said.

On being asked to comment on the apparent tensions between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Shiv Sena, he said, "Accha hai. Aisa hi chalna chahiye (That's good. This should go on.) We have no problem in our alliance."

Maharashtra will go to polls on October 15, with the counting due to take place on October 19.