As seat-sharing talks between the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for the Maharashtra polls show no sign of reaching a consensus, senior NCP leader Praful Patel stepping up the pressure, saying his party was running out of patience.
The allies met on August 20 in Delhi but since then there has been no movement forward. “We have put forward our demands but the Congress is yet to respond. We are hoping for a respectable settlement if the alliance to move forward,” said Mr. Patel said in an interaction with journalists.
In a veiled warning to the Congress, Mr. Patel said that a section of the NCP leaders were keen on contesting the Assembly polls without an alliance.
The NCP is pushing for a larger share of seats from the Congress for the Assembly polls, after winning two seats more than its ally in the Lok Sabha polls. In the 2009 Assembly polls, the Congress had contested 174 seats and the NCP 114 seats.
This time, the NCP has demanded 144 seats, which is half the share of the Assembly seats. However, the Congress is unwilling to part with more than 10.
