Sonia, Pawar discuss alliance for Maharashtra polls

New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) With the Maharashtra Assembly elections just two months away, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar on Tuesday met Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss the seat sharing deal in the state, party leaders said.

A senior Congress leader, related to the development, said that the two leaders discussed the issues of alliance between the Congress and NCP along with regional parties opposed to the state's ruling BJP-Shiv Sena coalition.

He said that the two leaders also discussed on the issue of taking the Left parties along with it in its alliance in the state. Another party leader said that the Congress and NCP are also mulling the idea to include Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in their anti-BJP alliance in the state.

The leader added that the Congress has some reservations about the inclusion of the MNS in the anti-BJP alliance in Maharashtra, so before taking a final call on the issue, the party's top leaders will discuss the matter with the state leadership.

This was Gandhi's first meeting with Pawar, a month after she was appointed the party's interim chief. Two months ago, MNS Chief Thackeray had held meeting with her at her residence her, giving rise to speculation that he might also be the part of the anti-BJP alliance in the assembly polls in the state.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP came to power by winning 122 seats in the 288 member Assembly, while the and later allied with Shiv Sena won 62 seats. The Congress and the NCP bagged 42 and 41 seats, respectively.

The Congress and the NCP is looking for a comeback in the state.