The Congress is attempting to form a “grand alliance” in Maharashtra before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls, state party President Ashok Chavan told The Indian Express on Sunday after a meeting with top leaders.

Chavan told the daily that the Congress was looking forward to tying up with 10 parties, including Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, the Left, the Peasants and Workers Party of India, Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana.

“We have initiated dialogue with the NCP,” said Chavan. “Initial work has been done. The Congress president will finalise it in consultation with the NCP leaders.”

He added that the party was flexible about seat sharing, and that the Congress high command would lead the talks. In the 2009 Assembly elections, the Congress-NCP seat sharing formula was 174-114. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress contested from 26 seats while the NCP fought from 22 constituencies. “Some changes are bound to be there. We can work it out,” said Chavan.

When asked if the Congress had moved to form the alliance after it lost the Palghar Lok Sabha bye-elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chavan said the outcome did not indicate the mood of the people. But he added that the party wanted to ensure that anti-BJP votes do not get split.

Chavan expressed his reservations regarding the Shiv Sena. On June 7, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party had passed a resolution to contest elections alone. Though the Sena and the BJP are allies in the Maharashtra government, the regional party has repeatedly criticised the BJP-led governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre over the past several months, and has often hinted at quitting the alliance.

Chavan said the war of words between the Shiv Sena and the BJP split was mere posturing. He claimed that the two parties would tie up sooner or later.