After a massive rout in the crucial assembly elections, now a “grand alliance” is on cards between Congress and NCP for elections to the eight legislative council seats.
The polls are scheduled to be held in the first week of January 2016. If a senior NCP leader is to be believed, then a decision to contest the ensuing elections to the legislative council was taken a high-level meeting attended by NCP’s Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare and Congress leaders Ashok Chavan, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and former state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre.
Senior Congress leader Bhai Jagtap, state environment member Ramdas Kadam (both from Mumbai), Kaka Jagtap from Ahmednagar, Mahadev Mahadik from Kolhapur, Amarish Patel from Dhule-Nandurbar are among the eight members who will retire. Their term ends in December and a notification for the elections from the local self-government constituency will be issued in a day or two. “We have learnt lessons from Bihar. If BJP and Shiv Sena have to be defeated, we will have to join hands with the Congress,” the NCP leader said. In the wake of the dismal performance in the general election, NCP had terminated its alliance with Congress and had contested the 2014 assembly polls separately. “We contested the polls separately, but it was the worst-ever performance of NCP in the state,” he said.