Mumbai: Consensus on a seat-sharing formula for next month`s Mumbai civic polls continued to elude Congress and NCP, as the two sides indulged in some hard bargaining on Friday , even as the opposition BJP said that alliance will not work in favour of the ruling coalition in the state to wrest the premier civic body from them.
Congress-NCP leaders on Friday met at `Varsha`, the official residence of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, to work out a formula. As per the results of the 2007 elections, Congress wants to contest 170 seats and leave 34 for the NCP. However, with the NCP remaining adamant on 65 seats, Congress has agreed to give 10 more seats from its quota, where it had finished second.
While informing that nitty-gritties of 10 to 12 more seats is being worked out, Congress sources said that the NCP demand for 65 seats was not likely to be met. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was not present for today`s meeting and the NCP side was led by PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
The two groups will again meet on Saturday to discuss the formula.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh told reporters that the alliance talks are likely to continue for few more days since the figure for seat-sharing has not been finalised.
However, BJP state unit president Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the Congress-NCP alliance would not help in toppling the Sena-BJP at the Mumbai civic body. "Congress-NCP are prone to rebellion and it would work in our favour," he said.
"Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is being misled into accepting that joining hands with the NCP will help the Congress to topple the Sena-BJP in Mumbai," Mungantiwar said.
He said that Shiv Sena would give 20 and BJP nine seats from their respective quotas to the Ramdas Athavale-led RPI in Mumbai.
PTI