Gujarat polls: NCP seeks to contest from 18 constituencies

VAPI: Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) has identified 18 assembly seats across the state that it wants to contest from in the forthcoming polls. The party, led by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, had won three seats out of the eight it contested in 2007.

Sources said that NCP will bargain hard with its ally Congress to field its candidates on the 18 seats. "We had initially proposed to contest from 22 seats," said Jayant Patel (Bosky), NCP president in Gujarat.

Patel said that on the basis of NCP's growing strength and continuous improvement in its performance in the panchayat and municipal elections, the party was - in alliance with Congress - in a position to defeat BJP in the state.

He said the assembly constituencies that NCP has identified for fielding its candidates include Dwarka, Upleta, Gondal, Bapunagar, Dhandhuka, Visnagar, Vav, Kalol, Sahera, Devgadh-Baria, Umreth, Akota, Limbayat, Karanj, Surat (east) and Umbergaon.

Gopal Patel, NCP president in Valsad, said that NCP wants to field at least three more candidates in south Gujarat itself. These three seats being eyed by the party are over and above the shortlisted 18 constituencies. "We have the potential to grow in south Gujarat, qas much as the other regions of the state," he said.

Sources said that the seat-sharing formula is expected to be worked out by senior Congress leader Ahmad Patel and Praful Patel of NCP over the next three days. NCP wants to declare its first list of candidates on the auspicious day of Labh Pacham.