Ashok Chavan: Preliminary alliance talks with NCP complete

Ashok Chavan/ File Pic

Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan on Thursday said that the party has completed the preliminary talks for a pre-poll alliance with the NCP for the coming Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections.

He was talking to reporters at Nanded where the state Congress on Thursday held a meeting of party workers from the Marathwada region.

"Preliminary talks with the NCP have been completed," he said.

"We will also take along like-minded parties such as the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, Samajwadi Party, Republican Party of India," the former chief minister said.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and Congress were in power in Maharashtra for 15 years. The alliance broke up before the 2014 Assembly elections.

To a question, Chavan described the BJP-led Maharashtra government's claim that rural areas of the state are now open defecation-free as "laughable".

"Even today, 40 to 45 thousand families could be without access to toilets in every district," the Congress leader claimed.

Also Read: Ex-CM Ashok Chavan: BJP Fast An Attempt To Hide Government's Failures

Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from PTI

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