Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat has hinted that his party may contest more seats than the 125 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. The party is contesting the elections in an alliance with the NCP of Sharad Pawar. It the new formula gets materialised, it would mark a departure from the previous formula wherein both the parties agreed to contest 125 seats each, leaving the remaining 38 for the other partners.
Balasaheb on Sunday hinted that the Congress is likely to have an ‘upper hand’ in alliance with the NCP. He said that it will take some more time to work out an ‘acceptable’ formula.
“The NCP admits that Congress will have an upper hand. Going by the number of candidates and capacity to put up a challenge, the Congress is of the opinion of contesting more seats than the earlier formula of 125 seats each,” he told reporters after a meeting held at the residence of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde.
According to him, another meeting is scheduled on October 2 between the two parties and other partners which will bring clarity on the situation.
If reports are to go by, during the meeting between Thorat and Munde, it was decided that the Congress will contest 135-138 seats while the NCP will contest 122-125 seats.
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has 288 seats. The Congress and NCP are facing a stiff challenge from the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. Though the ruling dispensation has not announced the seat-sharing formula yet, the alliance appears to be the first choice of people to rule the state for another five years.
Meanwhile, when Thorat was asked about speculation that former CM Narayan Rane may join the BJP, he said that the saffron party was probably delaying it with the intention of inducting him on an auspicious day like the Gandhi Jayanti.
The state will go to polls in a single phase on October 21 and counting of votes will be held on October 24.