Mumbai:
Elections to the Maharashtra assembly are less than three months away, but irritants in the decade-and-a-half old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) partnership are threatening to cast a shadow on their preparations. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today countered NCP strongman Sharad Pawar's claim that he had been asked to lead the alliance's campaign in the coming assembly polls.
"I have no idea. My leaders have not told me that Mr Pawar will lead the Congress-NCP election campaign," Mr Chavan, 58, told NDTV today, adding both parties should work together and not try to "sabotage" the other party's electoral fortunes.
Mr Chavan had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the capital on Wednesday to discuss preparations for the assembly polls.
The NCP chief, 73, had earlier claimed in Mumbai that he had been asked to steer the alliance's campaign in the assembly polls.
The two parties have been ruling the state since 1999, with the Congress claiming the chief minister's post. In the assembly polls held in 2009, the Congress contested 174 of the 288 seats, and won 82. The NCP was allowed to field its candidates from the remaining 114 seats, and it secured 62 seats.
The alliance, however, was routed in the general elections held this year, with the MahaYuti (grand alliance) comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and the Raju Shetty-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan cornering 42 of the 48 parliamentary constituencies falling in Maharashtra. The Congress' tally was reduced to a mere two seats. The NCP fared marginally better, winning four.
NCP leaders have been citing the Congress' performance in the Lok Sabha polls to demand more seats in the assembly polls, scheduled to be held by October.
"NCP and the Congress have fought five elections together. Each time, there are discussions on seat- sharing. The coordination committee will take a call on that. The NCP and the Congress need to sit together and sort out the distribution of seats," Mr Chavan said in response to queries about the NCP staking claim to more assembly seats.
"I can't decide how many seats we will contest in the assembly elections," the Maharashtra chief minister said when asked about the number of seats the Congress will contest.