Ahead of Karnataka assembly polls, Sharad Pawar chairs NCP meeting

NCP is likely to field candidates in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, according to the report. During the 2018 polls, NCP contested 14 seats in Karnataka

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday held a meeting of party leaders at the party office in Mumbai.

NCP is likely to field candidates in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, according to sources. During the 2018 polls, NCP contested 14 seats in Karnataka.

At today's meeting national leaders of the NCP were present.

Karnataka, which has 224 seats in the Assembly presently has 119 MLAs of the ruling BJP, while Congress has 75 and its ally JD(S) has 28 seats.

Political parties in Karnataka including the ruling BJP, Congress and ally JD(S) are engaged in a spate of allegations and counter-allegations, with the latter attempting to corner the government over the issue of corruption.

Elections are slated to be held in Karnataka in a single phase on May 10, and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.

Pawar had on April 13, as part of efforts to forge opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, met with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi with the discussions centring on the need talk to other parties and to move together in the fight for various issues concerning people. The meeting had taken place at Kharge's residence in the national capital.

Recently, the Election Commission had downgraded the status of the NCP to a regional party withdrawing its national party recognition.