Have Congress-NCP sealed a 50:50 deal for LS polls

Mumbai, Oct 13: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar held discussions about a seat-sharing arrangement in Maharashtra for the next year's Lok Sabha elections, the NCP said on Friday.

The discussions were held in Delhi on Thursday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik said here.

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ashok Gehlot and NCP's Praful Patel were also present at the meeting.

The NCP proposed a 50:50 seat-sharing arrangement in the state, Malik said, adding that both the parties want to finalise it at the earliest.

He said Gandhi told Pawar that the Congress will discuss the proposal "at the local (state) level".

The Congress had contested 26 seats in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and won two, while the NCP had fielded candidates in 22 seats and won four.

There are 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra.

On Friday, Pawar held a meeting of the NCP's core committee here to discuss the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"Pawar informed the core committee about yesterday's meeting....We discussed the seats we may contest and the shortlisted candidates," Malik said.

The core committee also discussed issues such as power cuts and the drought situation in Maharashtra, he said, adding that the NCP will soon launch a protest over these.