2009 formula should be the basis for allocation of seats: NCP

Against the backdrop of Congress and NCP, the alliance partners in Maharashtra government, flexing their muscles over number of seats to be contested in upcoming Assembly elections, state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare today said the seat-sharing formula of 2009 should be the basis to seal the deal.
Addressing reporters here, the senior NCP leader said that both the parties should give due respect to each other in the alliance.
"There are some seats where NCP has a strong presence and Congress is weaker, and vice versa. So the seat-sharing formula (for upcoming elections) has to be devised carefully using the last election's formula. I don't understand why people make differing statements on seat-sharing," Tatkare said.

While Congress is insisting on continuation of the 2009 formula, wherein Congress had contested 174 seats and NCP 114, the Sharad Pawar-led party had demanded more seats in the upcoming elections on the ground that it did better in the state in the Lok Sabha elections this time. NCP bagged four LS seats while Congress got only two, out of the 48 seats from Maharashtra.
Deputy Chief Minister and NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar had said recently that NCP would contest all the 288 seats on its own if its demand of 144 seats was not met. However, NCP later said that the final decision would be taken by party chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Tatkare also appealed to Congress leaders to refrain from making comments on seat-sharing at a state level.

"The final seat sharing formula will be decided by our party president (Sharad Pawar) and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The distribution of seats should not be discussed at the state level now. I urge the Congress not to make comments about seat-sharing at the state level," he said.
Tatkare said that NCP workers will take to the social media to promote "development activities" of the government ahead of upcoming polls.
"It is very important to communicate to the people the development activities of the government through the medium of social media. This is what we will be doing now," he said.

Tatkare said that NCP "strongly condemns" the recent attack by police on Marathi-speaking people at Yellur in Karnataka.