Give us 10 seats else we will go with others: Goa NCP to Congress

Panaji, Apr 12 (UNI) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a partner to the Congress-led coalition government in Goa, today threatened to forge alliance with other secular parties if the latter failed to earmark 10 seats for the party in the coming state Assembly elections.

Talking to mediapersons here, National Observor of the Goa NCP Gurudas Kulkarni said, the Congress should recall that the NCP fared well without their support but led to the formation of government by the BJP in the year 2002.

''This should not be repeated in the coming elections to be held before June 11 and Goa should not go to the hands of the communal forces. The NCP has all the potential to emerge as an alternative force in Goa,'' Mr Kulkarni said.

The Congress, he said, should bear in mind that the NCP is its coalition partner at the Centre, Maharashtra and in Goa at present, and, therefore, should concede ten seats to it.

The Goa NCP President and Deputy Chief Minister Wilfred De Souza, who was also present on the occasion, said, he had recently suggested to AICC General Secretary In Charge of Goa, Margaret Alva, that ten seats should be alloted to the NCP. Eight of these seats are presently being held by the BJP and, so, the Congress should not hesitate to abide by the suggestion. The other two seats demanded by the NCP are Saligao, which is being represented by Mr De Souza, and the Benaulim constituency which is held by Agriculture Minister Francisco Mickey Pascheco.

The Congress, is yet to initiate a dialogue with the NCP on the seat-sharing issue Mr De Souza said adding that the NCP, has started receiving applications from the prospective candidates.

''We want to assist the Congress although it has suffered reverses in Assembly and local bodies elections in Punjab, Delhi, and Maharashtra,'' he said.

The Congress, meanwhile, has completed the process for all the 40 constituencies, the elections for which are likely to be notified anytime now as the term of the House expires on June 11.

UNI