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Pawar gives Cong ultimatum on NCP seat deal
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar gave an ultimatum to the Congress that if the latter did not formalise the tie-up by Monday evening, his party would go it alone in the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) poll.
As the impasse between the ruling DF partners over the sharing of seats for the BMC polls continued for the fourth consecutive day, Pawar advised the State Congress leadership not to conduct itself as it did in the 2007 poll, when his party leaders had been made to “wait” in vain till the last moment for entering into a tie-up.
“During the 2007 election, the discussions between the leaders Congress and NCP had continued till the last day of filing for nominations. Ultimately, the seat-sharing arrangement did not happen. As a result, there was confusion and we could not field candidates in full force. And we suffered a major setback,” Pawar said.
Speaking at the executive meeting of the NCP’s Mumbai unit, Pawar has set Monday evening as the deadline for Congress to formalise its seat-sharing deal with the NCP. “We don’t want a repeat of 2007 experience,” he said.
Simultaneously, the NCP chief also advised his own party leaders not to wait till the last minute for the Congress to formalise the seat-sharing arrangement, but go ahead with its plans to put candidates for all 227 seats in the BMC poll. “If the talks between the two parties are not completed by Monday evening, then go ahead and contest the BMC alone,” Pawar told his State party leaders.
The stalemate has arisen between the DF partners’ claim over the NCP’s Congress for at least 65 seats out of 227 seats. However, the Congress has made it clear to the NCP that it would not give more than 34 seats.
The Congress’ contention is that the NCP’s demand for 65 seats is “unrealistic” considering its lack of support base in Mumbai and the fact that in the outgoing 227-member BMC, the Congress enjoys a strength of 83, as against the NCP’s tally of 13 members.
Another factor that has come in the way of the Congress adopting a “give and take” approach vis-à-vis NCP in the seat-sharing talks is that one influential group within the party, led by city MP Gurudas Kamat, has vehemently opposed the very alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led party.
So much so that Kamat has written a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi cautioning her that there would be a rebellion within the Mumbai Congress unit, in the event of the party entering into an alliance with the NCP for the BMC poll.
No seat-sharing talks have taken place between the Congress and NCP for the last two days. The leaders of the DF alliance will resume talks on Monday. It remains to be seen if the two parties will succeed in arriving at a seat-sharing deal, before nomination for the BMC poll begins on January 24.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar gave an ultimatum to the Congress that if the latter did not formalise the tie-up by Monday evening, his party would go it alone in the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) poll.
As the impasse between the ruling DF partners over the sharing of seats for the BMC polls continued for the fourth consecutive day, Pawar advised the State Congress leadership not to conduct itself as it did in the 2007 poll, when his party leaders had been made to “wait” in vain till the last moment for entering into a tie-up.
“During the 2007 election, the discussions between the leaders Congress and NCP had continued till the last day of filing for nominations. Ultimately, the seat-sharing arrangement did not happen. As a result, there was confusion and we could not field candidates in full force. And we suffered a major setback,” Pawar said.
Speaking at the executive meeting of the NCP’s Mumbai unit, Pawar has set Monday evening as the deadline for Congress to formalise its seat-sharing deal with the NCP. “We don’t want a repeat of 2007 experience,” he said.
Simultaneously, the NCP chief also advised his own party leaders not to wait till the last minute for the Congress to formalise the seat-sharing arrangement, but go ahead with its plans to put candidates for all 227 seats in the BMC poll. “If the talks between the two parties are not completed by Monday evening, then go ahead and contest the BMC alone,” Pawar told his State party leaders.
The stalemate has arisen between the DF partners’ claim over the NCP’s Congress for at least 65 seats out of 227 seats. However, the Congress has made it clear to the NCP that it would not give more than 34 seats.
The Congress’ contention is that the NCP’s demand for 65 seats is “unrealistic” considering its lack of support base in Mumbai and the fact that in the outgoing 227-member BMC, the Congress enjoys a strength of 83, as against the NCP’s tally of 13 members.
Another factor that has come in the way of the Congress adopting a “give and take” approach vis-à-vis NCP in the seat-sharing talks is that one influential group within the party, led by city MP Gurudas Kamat, has vehemently opposed the very alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led party.
So much so that Kamat has written a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi cautioning her that there would be a rebellion within the Mumbai Congress unit, in the event of the party entering into an alliance with the NCP for the BMC poll.
No seat-sharing talks have taken place between the Congress and NCP for the last two days. The leaders of the DF alliance will resume talks on Monday. It remains to be seen if the two parties will succeed in arriving at a seat-sharing deal, before nomination for the BMC poll begins on January 24.
