Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and NCP’s Praful Patel on Wednesday announced that the two parties will go to polls without the Congress and hope for post-poll arrangements with non-BJP parties in Goa.

“We had thought that we should extend the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) from Maharashtra to Goa. Congress should play the major role and we (NCP and Shiv Sena) would contest some seats,” Patel said.

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The two parties are looking at contesting around a dozen of the 40 seats.

“In Goa there is a lot of confusion on the ground. There are BJP, Congress, TMC, AAP and other parties and in this overall confusion, NCP and Shiv Sena, though we may not be in a position to form a government, will have a respectable number of seats where we will have an important role to play in formation of a like-minded government,” Raut said.

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The Goa state NCP leadership was hopeful of an alliance with the Congress. Local leader José D’Souza claimed that talks stalled after initial progress was made.

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For the 2017 and 2012 Assembly elections, the NCP and the Congress had an alliance. Since then the NCP’s presence has been reduced to zero seats in the Goa legislative assembly. It won one seat in 2017, but the MLA Churchill Alemão switched to the Trinamool Congress.

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The Shiv Sena has never won a seat in Goa despite contesting successive elections either as independents or through alliance arrangements.

The Shiv Sena is likely to contest 15 seats, mostly in North Goa, which borders Maharashtra.

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Election to the 40-member Goa House will be held on February 14.