Cong-NCP forge pre-poll alliance for Palghar ZP polls

Congress and NCP, the parties which had contested last year's Maharashtra Assembly elections independently only to lose power to BJP, have now joined hands to fight the upcoming Palghar Zilla Parishad polls as one force.
The local bodies election of the newly-created district of Palghar and Thane Zilla Parishad is scheduled for January 28.
Congress leader and former minister Rajendra Gavit told PTI that the decision for pre-poll tie-up has been taken considering the district-level political situation.
"We are also in talks with the Bahujan Vikas Agadhi led by Hitendra Thakur," he added.
Gavit said he had lost the Assembly polls from Palghar with a slender margin and the situation for Congress in the newly-created district is good. "Not all is lost after the crushing assembly poll defeat," he said.

Congress has been battling factionalism to overcome the electoral defeats in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls last year. Many office-bearers have quit the party to join the BJP.

When asked about Thane district president Dayanand Chorge and few others joining the BJP, Gavit said, "Those who had worked against the party in the assembly polls are quitting now to join the BJP, for fear of disciplinary action against them in the Congress party."
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader from Thane and former MP Damu Shingda said talks with NCP in the district for pre-poll alliance are on.
To a question on speculations that he was unhappy and was on his way out, Shingda said that his unhappiness was over the way the party organisation has been neglected in Thane district.

"I will meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and I have also apprised AICC General Secretary Mohan Prakash about the state of affairs of the organisation in Thane district," he said adding that he was the senior-most leader in the district and was instrumental in organisational building.
Thane and Palghar ZPs will have 57 members each.