Cong-NCP seat-sharing talks on Jan 4

Senior leaders of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could most likely finalise the seat-sharing formula for the Mumbai civic polls in their meeting on January 4.

Senior leaders of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could most likely finalise the seat-sharing formula for the Mumbai civic polls in their meeting on January 4.

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NCP spokesperson Madan Bafna, on Wednesday, said that senior leaders of both the parties such as chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Congress state party president Manickrao Thakre, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and others could take a final call in the meeting. The allies are likely to go together in Mumbai and Thane but solo in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad polls.

When questioned about the possible effect of Anna Hazare's campaign for a strong lokpal bill on the elections, Bafna said that the recent municipal council polls had proved that his campaign had no impact on the party. While NCP was in favour of strong lokpal legislation, it did not back the Jan Lokpal bill as drafted by Team Anna, said Bafna. He also dismissed reports stating that home minister RR Patil allegedly "supported" Team Anna's version of the bill.

Hazare is known to be close to Patil and had campaigned for him in the 2004 polls. "In the backdrop of Hazare's remarks when NCP chief Sharad Pawar was attacked, none of our leaders would back Hazare's campaign. In the past, he have campaigned for Patil, but it's unlikely to happen now," said Bafna.