Bihar poll results show Congress should be accommodative: NCP

Panaji, Nov 22: The outcome of the Bihar assembly elections suggested that division of votes will happen in future polls if the Congress continues to take other parties for granted, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said here on Sunday.

He also told reporters that results of polls held in Bihar and other states indicated that the Congress should take other parties along and "understand the ground reality".

Addressing a press conference after inaugurating the Goa NCP office here, Patel said the Sharad Pawar-led party was willing to forge an alliance with the Congress and other like-minded parties in upcoming Goa Assembly elections.

"But if such alliance doesn''t materialise, the NCP is ready to contest polls on its own and form a government (in Goa)," he added.

In recently-held Bihar polls, the BJP-JD(U) combine managed to retain power by defeating the RJD-led grand alliance in a tight contest.

The poor showing by the Congress, which was part of the ''mahagatbandhan'', affected the overall electoral performance of the alliance.

"Results of the elections held in Bihar and other states have clearly demonstrated that Congress and other parties should be broad-minded enough to understand the reality and take other parties along.

"If the Congress takes other parties for granted, it will lead to a division of votes," the former Union minister said.

Speaking on the Goa assembly elections, due in 2022, Patel claimed that many leaders of other parties are in touch with him since the last few weeks.

"We are very sure that even if it comes to contesting elections alone, we will have good candidates including some sitting MLAs," he said.

Patel said the NCP, which has one MLA in the 40-member Goa House, has been expanding its base in the coastal state.

"We are going to identify all the constituencies and start working for the next assembly elections. We are currently in a good position in at least 7-8 constituencies. We want to build our own strength on the basis of which we will contest," he added.

The NCP is a part of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.