NCP keen to form alliance with Congress in three states

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has said that it would be keen to form an alliance with the Congress Party in Goa, Gujarat and Odisha before the 2014 general elections.

NCP general secretary D.P. Tripathi said: "Talks are going on, but the Congress has not decided anything. Last time, we had an alliance with the Congress in Goa. We are trying for alliance with the Congress in Goa, Gujarat and Odisha. We need to come to a decision about these places."

Tripathi also said that the NCP has announced its first list of 24 candidates for the general elections, 18 of whom are from Maharashtra and six from other states.

Tripathi clarified that nothing has been finalised on seat sharing arrangements.

In the 2009 elections, the NCP had won eight of the 22 seats that they contested.

The Congress Party has led coalition governments for the past decade, but faces an uphill struggle to win re-election this year due to a string of corruption scandals and sagging economic growth.

Regional parties and their often charismatic leaders have become more powerful national players in recent years.

In recent days, some prominent state-level leaders have sealed alliances or spoken of a so-called Third Front.

Jayaram Jayalalithaa, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, has also formed an alliance with some Left Front parties.

A government made up of several regional groups with diverse agendas could prove unwieldy, a potential problem for Asia's third-largest economy, whose growth has tumbled to a decade low due to the slow pace of reform under the Congress Party's watch.