Cong, NCP in talks for tie-up for local bodies polls in Guj

Congress and NCP, who do not have an alliance at the national level, are engaged in dialogue to fight the local bodies polls together in Gujarat.
"We have decided to fight local bodies polls with Congress to stop division of votes," NCP Gujarat president Jayant Patel alias Bosky told reporters.
"We will discuss the seat sharing with Congress in coming days," he said.
Congress also said it was ready for the alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
"There was a discussion at highest level of state leadership on alliance with NCP ahead of local bodies poll. We are open to the alliance as we do not want communal force to win in Gujarat," Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.

Congress and NCP had been fighting elections together in the state when they were in alliance at the national level.

However, before 2014 election as their national alliance broke, both the parties had fought separately in the state in that Lok Sabha polls.
The problems of BJP, which is already grappling with the fallout of Patel quota agitation, will aggravate as devision of secular votes will be stopped due to alliance between the Congress and NCP in the local bodies polls which are seen as prestige battle for the Anandiben Patel government.
Elections to six municipal corporations of Gujarat including that of Ahmedabad will be held on November 22 while on November 29, polling will be held for 31 district panchayats, 230 taluka panchayats and 56 municipalities.

Majority of these local bodies including all the six municipal corporations are at present held by BJP.
The Congress-NCP alliance will hurt prospects of BJP, which is at present facing the ire of Patel community after their agitation for quota was crushed by the government putting its main leader Hardik Patel behind bars in the sedition case.