Panaji: Prolonged coalition confabulations are delaying the announcement of ticket allocations for the March 3 assembly polls in Goa. Both the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been huddled together in talks with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) respectively to work out a seat-sharing arrangement for over a month now for the 40 assembly constituencies up for grabs in the polls.
When asked why the BJP - which has a track record in Goa of coming out with a ticket list before its rivals - was delaying announcement of its candidates, state BJP president Laxmikant Parsenkar said: "We are holding our cards close to the chest." "Why should we be the first every time?" he added.
On alliance talks with the MGP, which have been dragging on for over a month, Parsenkar said: "Constructive talks are on. That is all I can say at the moment. There is no deadline to the negotiations we are having." Incidentally, the MGP is a partner in the incumbent ruling alliance headed by the Congress, in which the NCP is also a partner.
The talks between the Congress and the NCP held in New Delhi on Tuesday, which were expected to clinch the alliance deal, have not been conclusive according to a top Congress leader.
"Seat-sharing finalisation is not yet done. There are specific seats which we are talking about, where there seem to be differences," the Congressman said.
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