The Hindu : Front Page : Congress, NCP finalise seat-sharing agreement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

Front Page

Congress, NCP finalise seat-sharing agreement

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19. After days of negotiation, the Congress and its alliance partner in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party, have finalised their seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly elections in the State. Of the 288 seats, the Congress has been allotted 161, while the NCP has been given 127.

The seat-sharing arrangement was finalised on Saturday evening after an hour-long meeting between the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and her NCP counterpart, Sharad Pawar. The final list of candidates will be released on Monday.

Both the parties have agreed to broadbase the alliance and involve like-minded parties such as the CPI(M), CPI, RJD, LJP and factions of the Republican Party of India.

The Congress will leave some seats from its share for the Left parties, and those led by Mr. Lalu Prasad and Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, while the NCP will accommodate, the Ramdas Athawale faction of the Republican Party of India (RPI).

Senior Congress and NCP leaders told The Hindu that it was necessary to share seats with like-minded parties in order to broadbase the alliance and minimise the possibility of a division of the secular vote. The Congress-led Democratic Front Government in Maharasahtra did not have a majority and was supported by the Left parties, the Janata Dal (S) and some smaller parties, besides independents.

The combine believes that there is a likelihood of a hung Assembly, in which case it might require the support of friendly parties to form the Government.

BSP factor

The Congress-NCP combine also has to contend with the threat posed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which cut into its vote during the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.

The combine is also wary of the Samajwadi Party's (SP) efforts to cut into its Muslim votes by deciding to contest a sizeable number of seats and field a number of Muslim candidates.

The Congress has also conceded the NCP's request to leave seats for it in Congress strongholds such as Vidarbha and Mumbai.

The Congress has decided to leave 15 seats for the NCP in the Vidarbha region and eight in Mumbai.

Similarly, the NCP is likely to concede some seats to the Congress in its strongholds of western Maharashtra, Pune and Satara districts.

Strategic move

The Congress decision to defer the announcement of its list of candidates by a day is said to be part of a strategy to minimise the chances of disgruntled ticket hopefuls from contesting as rebel candidates.

The last date for filing nominations is September 22, and by delaying the release of its list till the last moment, the party hopes there will be very little time for rebel candidates to come up.

Meanwhile, the poll managers of the Congress-NCP combine are giving the final touches to the campaign strategy.

Senior Congress and NCP leaders believe that they will be able to offset the disadvantages of the Savarkar controversy and the anti-incumbency factor by focussing on development.

Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Pawar will address joint rallies and campaign together in several places.

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