Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar refuted all rumours of forming an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll-bound Maharashtra. Speaking exclusively to Network18, Pawar said, "NCP will prefer a secular formation. There is no question of going with the BJP."
The NCP parted ways with Congress in Maharashtra over seat sharing issue after 15 successful years. The NCP wanted 144 seats to contest, 30 more than the seats it contested in the 2009 elections and the talks finally broke down.
Another point of contention was the chief minister's post. The NCP also demanded that the chief minister's post be shared, according to which each party will have chief minister for two-and-half years. Earlier it was the party getting maximum number of seats that got the chief ministership.
Even though the alliance is no longer in existence, Pawar said, "The NCP does not rule out post-poll alliance with the Congress." The NCP chief also maintained that his will go alone in the polls.
The NCP has fielded 286 candidates for the 288-member Assembly. The voting will be held on October 15 and the counting is on October 19.
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