Mumbai, May 29 (IANS). The NCP core committee, headed by party president and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, on Friday staked its claim on Raigarh, Pune and Parbhani local body seats for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. These elections are to be held on June 18. The last date for filing nominations is June 1.
Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal, former Assembly Speaker Dilip Walse Patil, former minister Dhananjay Munde and MP Parth Pawar were present in the meeting.
Speaking to reporters, Tatkare expressed confidence that the impasse over seat sharing of the Maha Yuthi alliance for the assembly elections would be resolved by tomorrow afternoon. He clarified that the three parties have agreed to collectively contest all the 17 seats of the Maha Yuthi. He said that there was a detailed discussion on seat sharing formula, possible candidates and election strategy.
Tatkare said that discussions regarding seat sharing between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and NCP are in the final stages and the situation will become clear by tomorrow afternoon. He said that the final decision on how many seats BJP will contest, Shiv Sena on which seats it will field candidates and which seats NCP will get will be taken by Saturday afternoon. We have made our stand clear to the Chief Minister regarding how many seats NCP wants.
He further said that since the last date for filing nomination papers is June 1, the discussions within the grand alliance are going on at a fast pace. He clarified that the process of filing nominations is going on on Saturday. Due to Sunday being a holiday, the final decision is expected by tomorrow afternoon. After this the candidates for the seats allotted to NCP will be announced.
Tatkare also said that although many candidates are trying to present their candidature, no one’s name has been decided yet. He clarified that the upcoming Extended Executive Committee meeting to be held in his native village Sutarwadi has no connection with the Legislative Council elections.
–IANS
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