Gandhi gives green signal for tie-up with NCP

Clearing the air, the Congress on Thursday finally announced its alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party for the forthcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra to take on an upbeat Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the Congress chief and attended by All India Congress Committee general secretary Margaret Alva, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Shinde and state party chief Prabha Rau.

The announcement comes a few days after Pawar spoke of the Congress giving conflicting signals on the issue of an alliance followed by talks between his trusted lieutenant Praful Patel and Gandhi.

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As in the last elections, the Congress would like to tie up with the two Republican Party of India factions led by R S Gavai and Prakash Ambedkar and would make efforts for an alliance with all other like-minded parties.

Within two or three days, Gandhi would finalise a team of her party's leaders for talks with the NCP on seat sharing. The task would be finished by the end of August.

The current assembly scheduled to end on October 20. Elections are expected to be held after the conclusion of the 10-day Ganesh festival, which commences on September 18.

Gandhi would be paying a one-day visit to the state on August 11 during which she would visit Nagpur, Wardha, Nandurbar and Amravati, the districts in the Vidarbha region, which came under focus recently due to suicides by farmers.