Vadodara: Congress allies are putting the party on notice without actually pulling out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). A day after Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati asked her party to get ready for an early Lok Sabha election; Nationalist Congress Party supremo and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar joined her chorus. Addressing the NCP conclave in Vadodara, Pawar asked his party leaders and workers to be ready for a snap Lok Sabha election.
Pawar said that all parties should be ready for polls at all times and asked his party workers to be prepared for any eventuality while declaring that his party would contest the Gujarat in alliance with the Congress. The NCP chief also made it clear that he was upset with the division of seats in Gujarat and wanted to contest more.
"In Gujarat, NCP and Congress will fight elections together, but we want a respectable share of seats. We will take up this issue with Congress leaders. In Gujarat, we had contested on eight seats in the last election. We will definitely contest more this time," said Pawar while addressing his party workers in Vadodara on Wednesday after taking over as the NCP chief for the fifth time.
However, he also hinted that the NCP would not do anything to destabilise the UPA government, saying the "concept of coalition is here to stay". "We have to accept this. National and regional parties have to work together," said Pawar despite the recent strain in ties with the Congress which led to a major political crisis in Maharashtra.
Top NCP leaders including Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and Supriya Sule were also present at the convention. Jayant Patel, president of NCP's Gujarat unit said hoped that the national convention would help the NCP emerge as a major force thereby raising its current tally of three seats in the Gujarat assembly.
"The party is organising this meet with an aim to increase its strength in Gujarat. It has a strength of three members in the 182-member assembly. We want to defeat the ruling BJP, as people are seeking change and we will play a role," he said.
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