MUMBAI: In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) discussed preparations for the general elections in the last two days.
Not to be left behind, the BJP has invited party MPs to Mumbai for a similar meeting on Monday.
On Sunday, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had convened a meeting of party MPs at his residence ‘Matoshree’.
While the party has already declared its stand to go solo in the polls, Thackeray was eager to know about the poll preparedness from the MPs.
He inquired about the political situation in the constituencies and also asked questions such as the possible candidates of the Congress-NCP alliance, said a senior Sena leader.
According to sources, most Sena MPs are averse to going solo in the Lok Sabha polls though none of them made it known at the meeting. Recent surveys have indicated that the Sena would bet hit hard if it goes solo in the Lok Sabha polls.
The NCP had a two-day meeting over the week end to review parliamentary constituencies in the state. The party had contested 21 and won four seats in 2014. It is also likely to ask for 25 seats this year.
"We reviewed all the constituencies where the party has some strength. Our leaders from Mumbai had been demanding an additional seat, while similar demands are being raised from Pune, Kolhapur, Yavatmal also. But, the discussions we had over two days were preliminary ones," NCP's state president Jayant Patil said. "We shall discuss all these issues with the Congress leaders during seat-sharing talks."