Preliminary Talks Between Congress and NCP Likely Today for Alliance

Mumbai: Senior leaders of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are likely to hold preliminary talks on Tuesday to chalk out a strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

There have been speculations in Maharashtra politics about the Congress and the NCP joining hands for a pre-poll alliance.

While many senior leaders News18 spoke to said that they were open to a tie-up considering they are “natural allies”, they remained non-committal about whether the alliance will indeed be forged.

"It is too early to talk of the alliance now. Today, our primary focus is going to be on deciding candidates for the by-elections of Legislative Council," Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil told News18.

The leaders conceded that an alliance can be forged only if each party feels it does not hamper their interests. "The devil lies in details. We need to see what the other has to offer and if it will be mutually beneficial. Right now, there is widespread discontent against the BJP government. There is a need for the opposition to unite," a senior political leader said.

Over a fortnight ago, Sharad Pawar had taken lead in uniting the opposition under the banner of 'Sanvidhan Bachao Rally' (Save Constitution rally). Eighteen national and regional parties had gathered in Mumbai to participate in it. The two leaders who stayed out of it were Akhilesh Yadav and Prakash Ambedkar. While Akhilesh Yadav pulled out at the last minute, Prakash Ambedkar made it clear that he will never go with Sharad Pawar, who he considers a hypocrite working against the interests of the Dalits.

The political situation in Maharashtra is heating up. With the Congress and the NCP likely to forge an alliance, MNS chief Raj Thackeray is also keeping his options open. On Monday supporters of tainted NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal met Raj Thackeray. He said that there was a need to rally for the cause of release of Bhujbal, who has been in prison for nearly two years now. He was arrested on money laundering charges by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2016.