NCP deals Congress big blow in Gujarat, to fight all 26 seats

AHMEDABAD: Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday dealt a blow to Congress by announcing that it would contest all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. Both Congress and NCP have adopted a combative stance, though both also say there is still scope for an alliance as the last day for filing nominations is April 4.

"NCP will go ahead and announce its candidates for all 26 seats in the next two or three days," NCP state chief Jayant Patel said, indicating a faltering of talks. With just a week to go before the last day for filing nominations and the tie-up not working out, it appears NCP will play spoilsport yet again for Congress.

NCP's fielding of candidates on all seats along with five assembly seats where bypolls are to be held will translate into a straight division in the anti-BJP votes.


NCP had sought Porbandar, Panchmahal and Gandhinagar seats as part of the seat-sharing formula.

Although Congress and NCP have been natural allies at the national level for long, the two have not been able to stitch a sustainable alliance in Gujarat. They had a prepoll alliance in the 2004 and 2014 general elections in Gujarat. Congress left the Rajkot LS seat for NCP in 2004 and the Porbandar LS seat in 2014. NCP lost on both occasions. The two parties did not have any pre-poll alliance in Gujarat in the 1999 and 2009 general elections. NCP fielded candidates on seven seats in 1999, all of whom lost, and again on seven seats in 2009. No NCP candidate won in 2009 either.

In the 2017 assembly elections, after alliance talks between Congress and NCP collapsed at the last minute, NCP fielded 58 candidates, and registered a win on the Kutiyana seat. However, NCP cost Congress five assembly seats - Prantij, Dholka, Umreth, Fatehpara and Dangs. If an alliance would have happened between Congress and NCP, BJP would have been reduced to 94 seats in the assembly.