Congress not to give up claim on Mahajan's RS seat; Alva

Thane, May 28 (UNI) Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra in charge of the party Mrs Margaret Avla today said the Congress will not give up its claim over the Rajya Sabha seat fallen vacant due to the death of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.

Talking to UNI at the circuit house here today during her visit to the district to participate in a number of programmes organised by the party, she said,''the seat originally belongs to the Congress and we will not give it up''. State Congress Chief Prabha Rao was also present during the talk.

Asked as to who will be the Congress candidate for the elections, she said the party would soon decide but only after the present council elections are through.

In reply to another question, she said the Congress had to field the fourth candidate for the council elections as the NCP had fielded its candidate for the elections. ''Initially we had fielded only three candidates and when the NCP fielded the fourth candidate, we had to follow suit and this was done in a great hurry,'' she said.

A coordination committee meeting is scheduled to be held on May 30, where several problems faced by the state including the suicide by farmers, power shortage would be discussed, she added.

The Congress will have to put in lot of efforts in the region on account of the forthcoming civic elections and due to the fact that the number of constituencies have also increased.

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