Ajit Pawar called with proposal for Pune civic poll tie-up, says Cong's Satej Patil

Pune, Dec 23 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Satej Patil on Tuesday said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has contacted him for a possible alliance with the NCP for the upcoming Pune local body elections.

Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Patil said the Congress is looking forward to contesting as Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Pune, and has had three meetings with partners Shiv Sena and NCP (SP) for a possible alliance.

"I received a call from Ajit dada. The proposal (to tie up with Congress) had come for Pune. We are deliberating on it, and holding discussions with the Congress's local leadership and the party's state president Harshvardhan Sapkal," he said.

The Pune Municipal Corporation polls are scheduled to be held on January 15, while the counting of votes will take place the following day.

Meanwhile, NCP Pune city president Subhash Jagtap said that the rival factions of the party had discussed an alliance for the upcoming polls in Pune.

"As far as the seat-sharing is concerned, both factions are ready to come to a consensus. The official announcement will be made around December 25," he said.

However, NCP (SP) city unit president Prashant Jagtap is unhappy about the possibility of ties between the two factions in Pune city and is travelling to Mumbai to meet party leader Supriya Sule amid the reports about his resignation.

"I will not speak about the resignation issue. I am going to meet Supriya Sule in Mumbai and will comment after the meeting," he said.

NCP (SP) Maharashtra unit chief Shashikant Shinde said that he has not yet received any resignation from Prashant Jagtap.

The party held a meeting two days ago during which leaders opined that all MVA partners should come together against the BJP in the city, he said.

"The overall opinion in the party is that all parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, should come together to keep the BJP away. I have asked Prashant Jagtap to deliberate on this. I have not yet received any communication about his resignation," Shinde said. PTI SPK ARU