MUMBAI: The Congress and the NCP have in principle agreed to share 200 of 288 assembly seats in preparation for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls while deciding to discuss rest of the seats next week. They are also yet to decide on who will be the face of the coalition.
“Senior state leaders at a review meeting, Wednesday, arrived at a consensus that the twin parties have good presence in some 200 seats,” state Congress president Ashok Chavan said here on Friday.
“The NCP too has prepared its list of around 100 such seats and even completed first round of screening of candidates.
The parties will meet next Tuesday (July 16) to decide on the rest of the 88 seats,” said state NCP chief Jayant Patil.
Chavan also said that Congress is still prepared to accommodate Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).
However, he pointed out that influential intellectuals like Lakshman Mane had recently quit the VBA, which indicates that all is not well with it.
Asked about a possible leadership change within the Congress, Chavan said that while he has tendered his resignation and some other leader is expected to be elevated to the post of party’s state president, the
process has been delayed due to the current political crisis taking place in the state of Karnataka.