Samajwadi Party to go it alone in Maharashtra for Lok Sabha polls: Abu Azmi

THANE: Samajwadi Party will go solo in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections and contest from at least 14 of the 48 seats in the state, senior party leader Abu Azmi said.

"The SP would contest only those seats where it has chances of winning the election, but it is sure that we will go alone," the party's state unit president said.

The SP is likely to contest from at least 14 seats and the party is examining if it should contest one of the four seats in Thane district, he said here last evening when he came to meet Thane Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta.

Azmi supported the agitation at toll plazas against the levy in the state, but said the protest should not be violent.

Let the MNS legislators protest in the Assembly. Damaging toll booths in this manner is not proper and the SP will never support such an agitation, he said.

Azmi discussed the issue of dilapidated school buildings in Thane with the municipal commissioner and urged him to carry out repair work or construct new buildings.