NCP not part of Bihar Grand Alliance: Praful Patel

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) senior leader Praful Patel on Tuesday said that party is not a part of Bihar Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan).

He said that NCP wanted to be a part of the alliance but they were not given space.

"NCP isn't a part of Bihar Mahagathbandhan. We wanted to, but we weren't given space, so we'll contest alone. We've not had any discussion with Shiv Sena. Party workers demanded that we contest on our own, so we'll fight the election alone," Patel said.

meanwhile, NCP is a part of Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

Earlier in the day, Bhojpuri actors Sudeep Pandey and Deepa Pandey joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).Both the actors were inducted into the party in the presence of senior party leaders Praful Patel and Jayant Patil.

Recently, the party had announced that it would contest the Bihar Assembly polls.

The party also informed that NCP president Sharad Pawar will be the party's key star campaigner for the polls.

"NCP will nominate its candidates for Bihar assembly elections. Sharad Pawar will do election campaigning in Bihar," party chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said in a statement.

Elections for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7 and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.

( With inputs from ANI )