Panaji, Jan 19 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena on Wednesday announced a pre-poll alliance between the two parties for the February 14 Goa Assembly polls.
Addressing a joint press conference in Panaji, Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and NCP’s senior leader Praful Patel said that the two parties had approached the Congress to extend Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance to Goa, but added that they did not receive a favourable response from the Congress leadership.
“We had thought that we should extend the MVA from Maharashtra to Goa. Congress should play the major role and we (NCP and Shiv Sena) would contest on some seats,” Patel said, adding that the Congress did not accept the proposal presented to it by Shiv Sena and NCP leaders.
According to Raut both parties would contest between “10-12 seats” each out of the 40 which go to polls next month.
“In Goa there is a lot of confusion on the ground. There’s BJP, Congress, TMC, AAP other parties and in this overall confusion, NCP and Shiv Sena though we may not be in a position to form a government, we will have a respectable number of seats where we will have important role to play in formation of like-minded government,” Raut said.
The alliance is expected to announce its candidates over the next few days.
The Assembly polls in Goa will be held in a single phase on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
–IANS
maya/dpb
