New Delhi, August 28: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has demanded a new seat-sharing formula with ally NCP in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.
“There is no question of repeating the old formula, especially after delimitation. The complexion of all constituencies has changed,” he said in the Seedhi Baat programme to be telecast on Sunday on Aaj Tak.
“Congress was in a “better position” in the state than its partner NCP and any decision on seat sharing would be done keeping in mind the present situation,” Chavan was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the TV channel.
He said the Congress should get a lion’s share in the seat distribution as the party was in a better position than a few years back.
However, the Chief Minister was not in favour of taking on the NCP leadership on this issue. “When issues can be sorted out with talks, why do we need to confront,” he asked.
On whether he want to go it alone in the elections, Chavan said “If the party says so, I am ready to go alone in the forthcoming elections”.
As part of seat-sharing in the last assembly polls, Congress was given 166 seats and NCP 122 of the total 288 seats in the state House.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress bagged 17 out of the 48 seats in the state, while NCP won eight, prompting demands from a section of the Congress, that they should follow the UP pattern in Maharashtra by going solo.
—Agencies