Pawar shouldn't demand seats where NCP isn't powerful, Cong leader on seat-sharing in Maha

Congress Campaign committee chief in Maharashtra, Nana Patole on Monday refuted the claims of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on seat sharing in the state.

"There will be a coalition between us and the NCP but the talks on seat-sharing are still ongoing. No final decision has been taken as of now. Neither has the seat-sharing formula been decided," Patole told ANI here.

He further advised Pawar not to demand those seats from the Congress where NCP did not have a stronghold or did not enjoy popular majority traditionally.

"Sharad Pawar should not put demand those seats where NCP is not powerful, he should not be adamant in getting those seats where they are weak," Patole said.

Earlier today, Pawar had claimed that the Congress and NCP had arrived at a seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections with the two parties agreeing to contest 125 seats each.

"We have left 38 seats for other allies, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday.In a series of tweets, Pawar also said that Congress and NCP were yet to decide on the specific seats they will contest.

Maharashtra has 288 assembly seats. Elections in the state will be held later this year.

The smaller parties, which will contest 38 seats, include Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana led by Raju Shetty and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar.

The alliance of Congress and NCP is seeking to defeat the ruling alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena in the state.