Cong-NCP alliance on shaky ground over seat sharing

Like Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, troubles appeared to have cropped up in the rival camp also with NCP virtually giving an ultimatum to the Congress to decide seat sharing for the Assembly polls in a day.
The Sharad Pawar-led party has gone on the offensive as it pitched for as many as 144 seats after rejecting the 124 seats offered to it by Congress. Maharastra Assembly has a total of 288 seats.
In a press conference in Mumbai, NCP Vice President Praful Patel gave Congress a day to respond on the issue of seat- sharing for the Oct. 15 Assembly polls in Maharashtra, saying the party would not wait any longer.

"The filing of nominations has begun. We can wait for a day more for Congress's response on our proposal on the quantum of seats," Patel told reporters even as he clarified that it was not meant to be an ultimatum.
There has been no response from Congress to our demand for 144 seats despite top leaders of the two parties meeting weeks ago, said Patel, a confidant of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
"We received a proposal that NCP should contest 124 seats, 10 more than what we contested in 2009 polls. We want to clarify that 124 is the number of seats we contested in 2004," Patel said, adding that the old formula does not apply now after NCP got more seats than Congress in Maharashtra in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

He added, "We want some official intimation from them by tomorrow, failing which I will meet CM Prithviraj Chavan on Monday morning."
Asked if NCP would go it alone if need be, Patel said, "That option is open to all parties."
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena and BJP leaders today held talks to end the tangle over seat-sharing for the Assembly polls but failed to reach an agreement. The two oldest NDA allies, however, insisted that they did not want the alliance to come apart.