Even as the Nationalist Congress Party sticks to its demand for more seats from the Congress for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has issued a veiled warning to the party.
“Alliance talks are still on between the Congress and the NCP. Talks are also on between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Until the talks conclude, it is difficult to say who we will be contesting against,” he said on Monday.
State Congress Chief Manikrao Thakre went a step further. “The Congress and NCP have been allies for the last 15 years. If the alliance talks do not succeed, then we will have to contest against all parties,” he said.
Talks between the allies are deadlocked over the NCP’s demand for half the Assembly seats after performing better than the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. So far, both parties have refused to cede ground. In the last week, the Congress and NCP collected application forms from aspirants for all 288 Assembly seats.
Teacher’s Day addressMeanwhile, Mr. Chavan criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans for a televised address to students on Teacher’s Day. “The language in the circular sent by the Central government is harsh. It implies that action will be taken against schools that do not comply. The speech will go out to over 17 lakh schools. It will be used as propaganda.”
He said both schools and parents were unhappy about the circular. “This is festival season in Maharashtra, but overnight schools have had to organise a television and a generator. Attendance has become compulsory.”
Mr. Chavan said the State had no choice but to implement the Centre’s circular, but he planned to take the issue to an appropriate forum.
