NCP, Congress take alliance route for zilla parishads
Hours after the results were announced for the ZPs on Thursday, the NCP extended the proposal to ally with the Congress
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have decided to join hands to claim the chairmanships of at least ten out of 25 Zilla Parishads (ZP), or district councils, elections for which were held on Tuesday.
Both the parties had fought the polls independently in most of the corporations and district councils.
Although the BJP has bagged the most number of seats in 10 districts councils, it will need support from its ally-turned-rival Shiv Sena or other parties in a majority of councils. Similarly the Sena, which has come first in five bodies, will need support from other parties except in Ratnagiri. The Congress and NCP have registered its dominance in four and six bodies respectively — though they are short of the half way mark in most of them.
Hours after the results were announced for the ZPs on Thursday, the NCP extended the proposal to ally with the Congress, which needs the support of the NCP in Ahmednagar, Nanded and Amravati though it has a clear majority in Sindhudurg. The NCP has a majority in Pune and Satara, though it will need its old ally to support in Solapur, Beed, Parbhani and Osmanabad.
“In our meeting held on Friday, we have decided to join hands with the NCP on the old formula of sharing the posts of chairman and deputy-chairman based on the number of seats won. We are also thinking of forming such alliance in a few other district councils such as Raigad, Gadchiroli, Beed and Hingoli with the help of smaller parties as both of us are falling short of the halfway mark,” Congress state head Ashok Chavan told HT after the meeting.
Chavan, however, said they did not discuss about the party’s poor show in the corporations and district councils.
The Congress has also proposed to forge alliance even in areas where both parties have a clear mandate. But the NCP is oppposed to it. “We are not in favour of alliance where we can form the body on our own,” said Sunil Tatkare, NCP’s state unit head.
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