Left for understanding with UPA: Sharad Pawar

The Left parties, which severed links with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance on the issue of Indo-US nuke deal, are inclined to have a fresh understanding with secular partners in the ruling alliance, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar claimed on Wednesday.
    
Talking to reporters after a public rally, Pawar said he had contacted the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat after the latter had reportedly made

a statment to that effect recently.
    
Pawar said he expected further discussions on the matter between Left and the secular constitents of UPA.
    
The NCP president said he wanted all UPA constituents to fight the next elections "collectively". "But I do not know whether this would materialise", he added.
    
Pawar said NCP would be contesting about 50 to 60 Lok Sabha seats across the country and would work out a state-specific seat-sharing arrangement.