Mumbai: The dynamics of Maharashtra politics have forced NCP and Congress to rethink their strategy for the Gujarat elections. Earlier, NCP had declared that it would contest all 182 seats on its own. But the late night meeting between Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad and NCP chief Sharad Pawar changed the situation. Both leaders decided that if they wanted to join hands in Maharashtra and present a united front in the state, they would have to sail in the same boat even outside Maharashtra. Sources said that Congress has now offered four seats in the first phase and four in the second phase i.e. a total eight seats in the Gujarat polls. But even though NCP has agreed to it, Congress leader Ahmed Patel is in no mood to take NCP on board.
After Prafull Patel announced NCP’s decision to contest independently in the highly-sensitive Gujrat elections, Congress senior leadership from Delhi moved fast and tried to control the damage. Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, reportedly reached out to the NCP chief. According to sources, both leaders sealed the deal on eight seats. However, hurdles in the alliance are not over yet. NCP has already filed its candidates in 50 assembly constituencies in the first phase. Congress too has fielded four candidates on seats which the NCP is demanding. Therefore, to get all candidates to withdraw their nomination would be a tough job for both sides.
Sources also indicated that the differences between leaders is a reason for tension between the parties. Ahmed Patel, political advisor of Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been sulking after NCP ditched him in the recent Rajya Sabha elections. He is dead against taking NCP on board.
Meanwhile, leaders working to patch up relations said that the Tuesday late night deal could be fruitful only for the second phase.
