Mumbai Congress General Secretary Javed Shroff has joined NCP in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare. The development comes at a time when the Congress is bracing up to put its house in order and present a united face in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand where it seeks to win in alliance with its other INDIA bloc partners. The Congress leadership had even issued a stern warning to all its state leaders not to speak anything in public either against their party colleagues or any of the allies.
The seat-sharing talks between the three alliance partners of the INDIA bloc are on and sources said 80 per cent of the seats have been finalised, while deliberations are on for the remaining ones. As the Congress gets battle-ready for the next round of assembly polls, the party appointed division-wise AICC senior observers for the Maharashtra Assembly polls with Ashok Gehlot and G Parameshwara to look after the Mumbai and Konkan region and Sachin Pilot and Uttam Kumar Reddy to oversee the Marathwada region.
On Tuesday, Congress MLA Hiraman Bhika Khoskar had joined the Ajit Pawar led. He represents the Igatpuri assembly constituency. Khotkar was suspected of cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections, since then he distanced himself from the party and there were speculations that he would leave Congress and join the ruling party ahead of the Maharashta Assembly elections.
The Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, the Election Commission announced.
