Madhya Pradesh: NCP to contest over 200 seats in upcoming polls

The Nationalist Congress Party will contest over 200 seats in the forthcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, senior party functionaries said Friday. Polls for the 230-member MP Assembly are scheduled for November 28 and counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Party leaders Rajendra Jain and Nakul Singh, while announcing the NCP's decision to contest over 200 seats, also said that it was looking for an alliance with "like-minded" parties. The two leaders Friday released the party's manifesto which promises free power and electricity to farmers besides waiving off their loans. Jain, a Maharashtra MLC, and Singh, the NCP's Gujarat unit spokesperson, said that the party would work towards reducing crimes against women and this would include deploying "marshals" in market areas for their safety.

Claiming that the people of the state were facing a difficult situation due to the 15-year BJP rule, the two leaders said that the NCP would work towards generating employment for the youth. The NCP manifesto also promised to bring petrol and diesel under the GST regime to provide relief to people from skyrocketing fuel prices.