Maharashtra Polls: Congress not ready to accept NCP's demand for larger share of seats

MUMBAI: With defeat staring in its face, Congress does not see any reason to accept NCP's demand for a larger share of seats or to make it an equal partner with a claim on the chief ministerial position. So, after being together for 15 years, the partners are threatening to go their separate ways, as each party terms the other's demands unreasonable.

Congress gave a revised offer of 128 seats to NCP, which has been demanding 144 seats and NCP has promptly rejected it. NCP is also adamant that the party should get the Chief Minister's post in rotation after two and a half years.

Congress believes that the main driver of the demand is NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. He has for long set his eyes on the Chief Minister's post.

There is, however, a unanimous opinion within Congress that the party should not give in to this demand. "First of all, both the parties know that it is pretty difficult for us to come back to power in these elections. So, NCP is making the demand with an eye on the 2019 elections, because once we agree to this demand, it will become a precedent and will remain a permanent agreement for the next assembly polls. Agreeing to this demand is nothing but a political suicide for us. The NCP if given power for two and a half years would finish off our party," said a Congress activist, who did not want to identified.

Let alone the top functionaries, even the rank and file of the party know that the Congress-NCP alliance has a difficult election, this time around. So, party workers do not want to give in to NCP's demands. "There is no compulsion for us to strike an alliance with NCP because its unlikely we will return to power," said the Congress leader.
That the Congress was not even willing to negotiate on the issue could be seen from what Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan who is in Karad today said, "If impossible demands are made then the alliance will not happen."

NCP Spokesperson Nawab Malik said that they were waiting for the Chief Minister to return from Karad, so that another round of negotiations could be held with the Congress. The discussions are likely to go late in the night. Both NCP and Congress leaders said that time was running out and if talks are not concluded by tonight then the two allies would make preparations for contesting elections separately.