Maha polls to witness quadrangular contest; Cong upbeat
Mumbai: With Assembly polls on October 13,
Maharashtra is all set to witness quadrangular contests among
ruling Congress-NCP, Sena-BJP, newly-formed Republican Left
Democratic Front and Raj Thackeray-led MNS in all the 288
Assembly seats.
Congress, which is in an alliance with NCP for the last
ten years, is upbeat about retaining power this time,
especially against the backdrop of its performance in the Lok
Sabha polls.
Leaders of Congress, which won 17 of the 26 Lok Sabha
seats it contested in the State, are hopeful that the party
would score a hat-trick by trouncing the Sena-BJP alliance.
The Sena-BJP saffron combine has decided to stick to its
old formula: BJP contesting 117 seats and Sena 171. Congress
is yet to decide on continuing its decade-old alliance with
the NCP.
The coming together of RPI factions with parties like
PWP, CPI (M), Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal-Secular may
deprive the Congress-NCP of a chunk of their traditional
votes.
MNS also made an impressive debut in the Lok Sabha polls,
with its candidates bagging over one lakh votes in all the 12
seats it contested.
Bureau Report