No discussion of merger with NCP: Maha Congress chief

Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat said here on Tuesday that there has been no discussion about merger of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) so far.

Congress veteran Sushilkumar Shinde caused a flutter on Tuesday when he said the NCP and the Congress will soon merge.

Speaking to reporters here, Thorat said the issue of merger of two parties was never discussed, either within the state Congress, or with NCP leaders.

"It has been two months since I assumed charge as state Congress chief, and we had several meetings (internal as well as with NCP leaders), but no discussion so far has taken place on the issue of merger," he said.

He exuded confidence that Congress-NCP alliance will win over 160 seats in the October 21 Assembly elections in the state.

Thorat attacked the BJP-led state government for "poor and disappointing" handling of the floods which devastated Kolhapur and Sangli districts in August.

The state government also failed to get any monetary assistance from the Central government, he alleged.

"The state government had sent a proposal to the Centre seeking Rs 6,800 crore for flood relief, but not a single penny has been received," he claimed.