Solapur: Congress may not go for an alliance
with NCP for the Solapur Municipal Corporation elections
scheduled for February 16 with Union Power Minister
Sushilkumar Shinde, who hails from the city, showing no
interest in the proposal.
The Guardian Minister of Solapur and local NCP leader
Laxmanrao Dhobale had urged Shinde to hold talks with the NCP
to discuss seat sharing arrangements for the polls but Shinde
has not yet given positive response.
Party sources say that Shinde is mulling to go it alone
in the elections without the support of NCP.
Shinde was camping in the city for two days to attend
religious rituals but did not establish rapport with the NCP
leaders here over the issue.
"We have urged Shinde to initiate talks for alliance but
unfortunately we have not yet received any response. If Shinde
wishes to go alone in the SMC election, then we are ready for
that and will show our strength," Dhobale told reporters
on Sunday.
The SMC has 102 seats in the house and out of that the
NCP has demanded 40. The Congress has 42 corporators while the
NCP has 14 in the present body.
"It is a local body election and I have left the issue
of alliance to the local leaders. They know the situation
better than me. We will decide soon whether to go hand in hand
with the NCP or fight it alone," Shinde had said on Saturday.
The NCP leaders here suspect that Shinde's daughter
Praniti is not willing for an alliance with Congress.
They have warned that Shinde won the parliamentary
election from Solapur district with the help of NCP against
the BJP candidate.
"If he thinks that we are weak in the city, we will show
our strength in the Lok Sabha election," the NCP city unit
President Mahesh Gadekar said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 16, 2012, 01:41