Mumbai: Conceding defeat of the
Congress-NCP alliance in Mumbai civic body polls, Maharashtra
chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Friday that the result was
"surprising."
"The result is surprising...unexpected. We tried to
consolidate secular votes but could not meet with desired
outcome," Chavan told reporters this evening.
Chavan, who played a crucial role in hammering out the
alliance in Mumbai, however, blamed Samajwadi Party for the
debacle. "The role played by Samajwadi Party was a big setback
in our efforts to stop division of the secular votes," he
said.
Chavan said the alliance had benefited both the
ruling partners in the state government in Mumbai and Thane.
"I congratulate Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and
Uddhav Thackeray. We accept defeat in Mumbai. We need to
introspect," he said.
The logic behind cobbling together the alliance was
that if secular parties came together, "we would be able to
defeat the communal forces," Chavan said.
PTI
