Mumbai, May 17: The Congress, which heads a ruling coalition in Maharashtra, today favoured holding simultaneous polls of the state assembly and Lok Sabha and said it was prepared to contest all 288 assembly seats on its strength. "Congress will favour holding together Lok Sabha and assembly elections," MPCC chief Ranjit Deshmukh told reporters here.
His statement assumes significance with BJP hinting at early general elections and Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde exhorting partymen to gear up for polls. Asked then what would happen to forging an alliance of secular-minded parties to engage "communal forces" in a straight contest as NCP's foreign origin issue could throw a spanner in coming together of secular parties, Deshmukh said, "We are prepared to contest all the 288 seats unless the Congress high command takes a decision otherwise".
To a query, he opined that the government's image has improved after Shinde took over the mantle of the state. The MPCC chief said since DF is a coalition government, situation had worsened in the past but it improved after Shinde became the chief minister. His statement could be seen in the context of his strained relationship with the former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Reacting to Vilasrao's statement opposing formation of statutory development boards, the MPCC chief said the government failed to assist these boards to achieve their aims and objectives. Bureau Report