NCP to contest 7 city seats

The party is looking to field candidates from Worli, Anushakti Nagar, Kurla, Vikhroli and Magathane Assembly constituencies, included in their quota in the seat-sharing agreement with the Congress.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) plans to contest seven of the 36 Assembly seats in Mumbai, and may field heavyweights namely Mumbai president Nawab Malik, members of legislative council Vidya Chavan and Kiran Pawaskar, and former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) group leader Dhananjay Pisal.

The Congress and NCP have decided to contest the upcoming state assembly elections together. Both the parties have come to an agreement on sharing 125 seats each and leaving the rest 38 for the smaller allies. (HT FILE)

The party is looking to field candidates from Worli, Anushakti Nagar, Kurla, Vikhroli and Magathane Assembly constituencies, included in their quota in the seat-sharing agreement with the Congress. It is also trying to get two seats — Dindoshi and Versova — from the Congress in exchange for Goregaon and Bhandup West, said a senior NCP functionary.

The Congress will contest the remaining 29 seats, as the NCP has a poor presence there. “We have sought only seats where we have potential candidates,” said a senior NCP leader. “The NCP is likely to field its spokesperson Nawab Malik from Anushakti Nagar, Dhananjay Pisal from Vikhroli and Manishankar Chavan (local leader) from Magathane. We are yet to finalise the remaining names, as there are more than one aspirants for those seats,” said a senior NCP leader.

For instance, in Worli, the party is looking at two candidates – NCP MLC Kiran Pawaskar and Suresh Mane. Mane was the national general secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), before getting expelled in 2015. For Dindoshi, party MLC Vidya Chavan and Ajit Raorane are in the race. “Raorane had contested from the seat in 2014, but could secure only 8,550 votes. For Kurla seat, the party is considering Jyotsna Jadhav, a doctor,” the leader said.

“We have also sought exchange for two seats with Congress — Dindoshi against Goregaon and Versova against Bhandup West. So far, the Congress has agreed to give only Dindoshi. It is not keen on giving tge Versova seat, which we want for Narendra Verma, our former Mumbai president,” said another NCP insider. “Although the party is considering these names for candidature, many of them may be changed in case the BJP and Shiv Sena decide to contest together. In that case, many of sitting MLAs from both the ruling parties (BJP and Shiv Sena) would like to join us. Some of them are in touch,” said a former NCP minister.

The Congress and NCP have decided to contest the upcoming state assembly elections together. Both the parties have come to an agreement on sharing 125 seats each and leaving the rest 38 for the smaller allies.