The Nationalist Congress Party chief, Sharad Pawar, on Sunday said the party was open to forge alliances with their erstwhile partner, the Congress, in municipal corporations and zilla parishads across Maharashtra, in a bid to check the triumphant Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking in Nanded district, Mr. Pawar said if the Congress and the NCP joined hands, they would retain power in 17 of the 18 zilla parishads in the State. The NCP chief was visiting Congress State president Ashok Chavan to discuss the possibility of an alliance.
He said, “Talks [regarding an alliance] have taken place between Congress State President Ashok Chavan and his NCP counterpart Sunil Tatkare.”
BMC polls
The NCP chief refused to comment on his party’s stand in the all-important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), where the BJP narrowly failed to beat its coalition partner in the State government, the Shiv Sena. The latter emerged as the largest party in the civic body polls, winning 84 of the 227 seats. The BJP came second, with 82 seats.
Mr. Pawar said, “Our local party leaders will decide on the NCP’s position in Mumbai. Besides, the Sena, with the help of independent candidates, can secure a majority. We will not support the BJP in the BMC.”
He also professed ignorance on the possibility of the Congress allying with the Sena to checkmate the BJP in the BMC.
BJP’s victory
The BJP’s wave had swept aside the Congress and the NCP in the recently concluded civic polls, breaking the back of the Pawar clan in its traditional strongholds in the Pune and the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations.
The BJP won 98 of 162 seats in the Pune Municipal Corporation election, and supplanted the NCP in its stronghold in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation with a landslide of 77 out of 128 seats.
The Congress lost its power base in the Solapur Municipal Corporation and faced the prospect of being reduced to a non-entity in Pune district.
Mr. Pawar said, “In the event the Shiv Sena leaves the government, then mid-term elections will follow and we are ready for it.”
He reiterated that the NCP would not step into the vacuum to support the BJP if the Sena leaves the coalition.