A day after the NCP ended its 15-year alliance with the party in Maharashtra, the Congress on Friday put up a brave face saying the split was ?expected? as the NCP had been hobnobbing with the BJP for some months.

?It was not surprising for us because we knew that the NCP has been trying to get close to the BJP. We knew that for the last two months,? AICC communication head Ajay Maken said on Friday.

He claimed the split will put the Congress at an advantage. ?Among all the parties, it is only the Congress which can provide a corruption-free government, has presence across the state and has leaders worthy of becoming the CM,? he said. Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza claimed the split has enthused the Congress workers. ?We are happy to go alone and we will prove it,? she said. Congress leaders also said it was NCP leader Ajit Pawar?s chief ministerial ambitions that complicated the seat-sharing talks.

Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said significant differences on ?critical issues? had forced the NCP to take the ?bold? step. He said his party would seek support of ?other secular parties? to put up a good fight.

While the Congress claimed that the NCP?s move was ?expected?, top Congress leaders had kept their fingers crossed till late Thursday night, even after the NCP announced its decision to sever the ties. Some channels of communication were kept open and the AICC communication department was asked not to react to the development for sometime, sources said. However, it became clear around midnight that the NCP was not going back on its decision and the Congress decided to go with its alternative plan.

Sources said despite the NCP?s claim that there was a lack of communication from the Congress, the two parties negotiated through Thursday on the 16 extra seats that the Congress offered to the NCP.

… ..but Ajit Pawar says will never go with BJP

AMID intense speculation, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said Friday that his party will never enter into any alliance with the BJP. He also indicated that the former allies were headed for an ugly face-off in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Pawar, on Friday, blamed the Congress for allowing unresolved issues to fester. ?Such decisions (of breaking an alliance) do not take place overnight. It takes a build up of issues over the years, which ultimately explode at one point,? he told The Indian Express.

The former Maharashtra Deputy CM also made a veiled attack on the Congress for waging a campaign against his party, ?Some sections are deliberately running this false campaign to mislead secular voters in a desperate bid to retain their secular voter base,? he said. Pawar dismissed the allegations about his chief ministerial ambitions and mounted a counter-attack on Chavan?s administrative skills. He denied reports of a rift with his uncle Sharad Pawar over the decision to snap ties with the Congress. Ajit Pawar filed his nomination from Pune?s Baramati seat Friday.

– SANDEEP ASHAR