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Wednesday, May 12, 2004

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National

Congress, NCP continue talks

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, MAY 11. Leaders of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are continuing consultations, the focus being mainly on how to provide a stable non-National Democratic Alliance arrangement in the event that Atal Bihari Vajpayee is unable to form a government.

The Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackeray, has made it known that if the NDA needs to add more parties to its line-up, the Sena would like to be consulted. This, sources in the Sena say, stems from fears that despite its public posturing, the NDA could fall short of numbers.

The Congress leader, Vayalar Ravi, met the NCP chief, Sharad Pawar, here with the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, in tow, but according to sources, "nothing much was discussed."

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, too has been talking to Mr. Pawar and it appears that all options are being tossed about among all the parties that have allied with the Congress.

Mr. Pawar is cautious because, in his view, "though the NDA appears to be on the decline, the real numbers are yet to come to light."

Basing a strategy on the numbers from the various exit polls would be inappropriate, he feels.

For instance, while it was assumed that the Telugu Desam Party would drop some seats in Andhra Pradesh, at no point was it believed that it would be a landslide for the Congress in the Assembly elections.

These seats, when translated into Lok Sabha seats would indicate a severe jolt to the NDA. So there is no hurry to scurry into action, believes Mr. Pawar.

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