In a day of pulls and pushes ahead of the general election, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Sunday threatened to look for an alternative if its demand for a joint alliance with the Congress at the national level was not met while the Congress and Samajwadi Party continued to wrangle over seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar did not talk numbers explicitly, but deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal demanded that the Congress give them 24 seats (of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state). "What is wrong if we ask for 24-24, 144-144 (assembly) seats, and 2.5 years-2.5 years of chief-ministership?" he said at a rally in Nashik.

In Delhi, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav accompanied by general secretary Amar Singh met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence late on Sunday evening, but the gap between Congress's demand for 25 seats and SP's offer of 15 remained unbridged.

"We will give 15 seats and maybe two more but not 25," Amar Singh told reporters. The Congress insisted on 25 but indicated it may settle for fewer seats but certainly more than the 17 on offer.

Holding out a threat to the Congress, Pawar said, "We appeal to the Congress to consider a joint alliance of the UPA. If they don't, we will be forced to make different choices in different states. We urge the Congress to take a clear decision at least one week before the date of nominations."

Yet another round of talks between the two parties on seat-sharing in Maharashtra is expected on Monday.

"Apart from Maharashtra, we [the allies in the UPA] are asking for one or two seats in other states," Pawar said. "The NCP's count will not be more than 20-21 seats. Including all partners of the Congress, the total seat share of the allies will not exceed 50 seats." —With agency inputs

Vaishali Balajiwale/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication