Mumbai, August 30: With the announcement of assembly polls in Maharashtra imminent, senior Congress leader and Defence Minister A K Antony and NCP chief Sharad Pawar are likely to meet in the next couple of days, UPA sources said tonight, amid uncertainty over seat sharing between the ruling allies.
The Congress which is heading the ruling Democratic Front(DF) coalition government in Maharashtra in alliance with NCP has so far kept its cards close to chest and remained ambivalent on its strategy for the elections.
However, there have been voices in the Congress that any seat sharing should reflect the realities of the outcome of the recent Lok Sabha elections from the state.
Congress and the NCP won 17 and 8 seats respectively out of 48 Lok Sabha seats at stake from the state. In the previous elections to the 288-member Assembly in 2004, Congress and the NCP fought 166 and 122 seats respectively.
NCP has been pressing to keep the alliance with Congress intact to avoid any division of secular vote.
Pawar has recently said he had received no proposal from the Congress on an electoral alliance.
As the two parties are together both at the national and state levels, the NCP would be able to chart out it course only after the Congress announced its decision, according to Pawar.
Pawar said he had been received suggestions from some “well-wishers” (in the Congress) offering options like the two parties contesting jointly, separately, having a post-poll alliance, and so on, but “so far there is no clear proposal from the Congress leadership.
—Agencies