Cong does not rule out post-poll tie with NCP

Congress blamed division in secular votes as the root cause for its poor show in Maharashtra civic polls but did not rule out post-poll tie-up with like-minded forces, including Nationalist Congress Party, to capture power.

"The sole reason behind this result is division among secular votes," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters when asked to comment on the poor performance of the party.

However, he said results are still coming in and "you must wait for complete results to come out. We believe that the post-poll scenario would be different as six municipal areas have a "divided profile".

"Certainly. We believe that the post-poll scenario will be significant," he said and did not rule out the possibility of post-poll tie-up with NCP, which had contested on its own in the February 1 municipal polls.

Responding to a query, Singhvi said there was no need for blame game as to which party -- NCP or Congress – is responsible for break-up of pre-poll alliance for civic polls but Congress had made every effort to "consolidate secular vote.