The Congress and its ally the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are heading for a major confrontation over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls. Even as the NCP demanded a 50 per cent share of the seats, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan warned the party on Thursday that there would be no alliance if the self-respect of parties was not honoured.
“A decision on the alliance will be taken but the self-respect of parties should be kept in mind. Otherwise there will be no alliance,” Mr. Chavan said at a party rally in Pune.
State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre rejected the NCP’s demand outright. “On what basis are they demanding more seats? It was on our strength that they won seats in the Lok Sabha,” Mr. Thakre said at the rally. The Congress plans to release its first list by August 7.
Meanwhile, the NCP is planning to hold a crucial meeting led by the party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday to discuss issues within the alliance.
