The 12-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) alliance finally broke down in Goa ahead of Parliamentary elections as the Congress opted to go it alone by rejecting NCP's claim for north Goa Parliamentary constituency.
The NCP had unsuccessfully contested the seat in alliance with Congress by "borrowing" Congress candidate in 2009.
Goa NCP president Nilkanth Halarnkar, who returned from New Delhi on Wednesday after a meeting with party supremo Sharad Pawar, said that the NCP will finalise its candidates for two Goa parliamentary seats on Thursday. He blamed the Congress for its "arrogance" which will lead to division of secular votes.
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Mr. Halarnkar confirmed that the alliance had ceased to exist as the Congress had decided to field its candidates for both the seats.
Meanwhile, Goa Congress president John Fernandes who is in Delhi to finalise party candidates, said that south Goa sitting MP Francisco Sardinha and former Chief Minister Ravi Naik were the front-runners as candidates for south Goa and north Goa constituencies, respectively.