40 BJP, Sena leaders in touch with us: Maharashtra Congress

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders claim at least 40 aspirants from the two ruling parties are in touch with them and it may delay the final list of candidates.

The Maharashtra Congress expects at least 24 Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena leaders to switch loyalties and join them a few days ahead of filing of nominations for the state polls.

The Maharashtra Congress expects at least 24 Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena leaders to switch loyalties and join them a few days ahead of filing of nominations for the state polls.Photo by Deepak Sansta / Hindustan Times

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders claim at least 40 aspirants from the two ruling parties are in touch with them and it may delay the final list of candidates. Leaders from both the parties say there are a significant number of ticket aspirants in the ruling parties who are irked that their parties have imported sitting MLAs from Opposition parties and are likely to field them – denying them the chance to contest. “Yes, there is a long list of aspirants from ruling parties who can join us. We are considering them to improve our strike rate,” said Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of the opposition in the legislative Assembly.

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party held various rounds of meetings to resolve the differences over 12-15 seats and reached a consensus over sharing of 120 seats each. Simultaneously, the two parties have been talking to their smaller allies, including factions of Republican Party of India, People’s Republican Party, Swabhiman Paksha, among others. The Congress and NCP will finalise the seats to be shared with the smaller allies.

The Congress has finalised its first list including most of its sitting MLAs and is expected to declare it immediately after the code of conduct was announced. The screening committee headed by its general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia is meeting in New Delhi again on Tuesday. The state unit leaders will apprise the screening committee about the probable candidates in 120 constituencies finalised between Congress and NCP.

Meanwhile, Wadettiwar said that Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi never intended to join hands with like-minded parties. “He never came forward for talks with us or wanted to avoid division of secular votes. Instead, he kept putting up conditions that can never be fulfilled.”