A tweet by senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel on Thursday that his party “will have a crucial role to play in the Maharashtra government formation” has triggered speculation on whether it could back one of the saffron parties in the post-poll scenario.
>#NCP will have a crucial role to play in >#Maharashtra Govt. Formation. I am confident that NCP will do well in the polls. >#VoteForNCP
— Praful Patel (@praful_patel) >October 16, 2014“The NCP is clearly open to supporting the BJP or the Shiv Sena. In the past they have unofficially said that all options are open, now they are saying it on record,” alleged Anant Gadgil, spokesperson for the Congress, the NCP’s former ally.
In the run-up to the polls, the NCP had said it would not support any non-secular party and would prefer to sit in the Opposition. Mr. Patel's tweet comes at a time when exit polls have predicted that the BJP will emerge as the largest party in the election and the Shiv Sena will secure second place. Most polls have placed the NCP fourth.
