Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Wednesday said the alliance with NCP for next month’s Assembly elections would be difficult to sew up if “impossible” conditions were laid down.
“Congress is keen on continuing the alliance with NCP to keep the communal forces at bay. But if impossible conditions are put, things become difficult. Had the talks been started without pre-conditions, we would have sorted out all the issues by now,” Chavan said, talking to reporters in Karad in western Maharashtra.
He refused to confirm if the NCP had asked for Chief Minister’s post for half the term if voted back to power.
But his cabinet colleague and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane confirmed this, saying that Chavan was in talks with Congress high command on the issue and a decision would be taken later this evening.
Addressing his supporters in Karad earlier, Chavan said he would work for the development of the city from where he is planning to contest Assembly election.
“Karad is my hometown and I owe everything I have to this town. It is time that I repaid the people for the various opportunities they have given me,” he said.
He added that though he spent many years in Delhi, he never abdicated his responsibility towards the people of his state and his hometown.
“Four-lane roads as well as Karad-Chiplun rail route have been built to ensure better connectivity. With international-standard turf wicket, the Chhatrapati Shivaji stadium was redeveloped,” he said, citing the infrastructure works carried out in Karad during his tenure.
He also mentioned that an agricultural college and a hotel management institute were set up in the area.