Give more to get me: Pawar tells Congress

PAWAR LIST: NCP leader Sharad Pawar says Congress must give UPA allies a chance.

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New Delhi/Nashik: NCP leader Sharad Pawar has asked the Congress to form national alliances with its UPA allies instead of aiming for state-level tie-ups for the Lok Sabha elections.

"As a big party, the Congress should come out with the pre-poll alliance and alliance partners should get a chance to contest from constituencies in which they are strong," he said at the NCP's state-level convention in Nashik.

"We told them that we want to go with Congress at the national level," he said, warning that voters will be confused if the UPA partners did not face elections together. The NCP has indicated that it wants to field candidates in at least 20 Lok Sabha seats outside Maharashtra.

Pawar, who is the Agriculture Minister in the UPA Government, warned that if the Congress focused on state-level alliances then the NCP might end up opposing it in some states.

"If we make adjustments at local level, many times we will have to take with us those opposed to Congress. If Congress goes ahead with its decision, we will have to take separate route in separate states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Orissa and the North-East," Pawar said.

Pawar said the NCP had talked to Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu and AIADMK chief Jayalalitha but "no final decision has been taken".

"The NCP does not want to fight the elections on its own. For the present, we are with the UPA," he said.

Toughening the party's stance on the issue of getting a 50 percent share of seats in Maharashtra, he said that if the Congress did not relent, then the NCP would have to rethink the issue.

Pre poll surveys have predicted that the elections would result in a hung Parliament. The UPA would need to form new alliances in order to retain power but the Congress has been wary of seat-sharing arrangements nationally.

The party has indicated that it would rather have alliances at the state level than forming national partnerships.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI. )