The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Thursday said it had completed seat-sharing discussions on all 48 Lok Sabha seats.
A meeting of top MVA leaders from the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) met at Mr. Pawar’s ‘Silver Oak’ residence in Mumbai today.
Speaking after the meeting, senior Congressman Balasaheb Thorat said the seat-sharing process was resolved on elective merit. He said that an announcement on the formula would soon be made by the top MVA leaders in a press conference.
“It is not important which party contests how many seats. Our seat-sharing formula is based on elective merit,” said Mr. Thorat, while refuting suggestions that the Sena (UBT) would be given the maximum number of seats to contest of the total 48 seats.
Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut reiterated there were no differences within the MVA partners, including Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi while clarifying the MVA had received no proposal from Mr. Ambedkar’s party to field Maratha quota Manoj Jarange-Patil from the Jalna Sabha seat.
Mr. Raut further refuted suggestions that of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra, the VBA had ‘demanded’ to contest on 27 Lok Sabha seats.
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Speaking to reporters in Mumbai today, Mr. Raut said the MVA parties held discussions only on seat-sharing during Wednesday’s meeting and there was no talk on individual candidatures. He said there would be a final meeting of the top leaders of the MVA parties - Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole - to announce candidates and constituencies later.
“Discussions were held on seat-sharing only, that is which party would be contesting from which seat. A rough blue-print has been prepared by the MVA, which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the Peasant and Workers Party (PWP), and the Left parties. Mr. Ambedkar’s VBA is an important constituent of the MVA. But we have received no such proposal [on Mr. Jarange-Patil contesting Jalna] from the VBA,” said the Sena (UBT) leader.
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Mr. Raut said that if a party within the MVA wanted to give a nomination to some individual in particular, then it was their concern.
On Wednesday, Mr. Ambedkar had not attended the MVA’s seat-sharing meeting at Mumbai’s hotel Trident, preferring to send a list of demands through his representatives which included giving fielding 15 OBC candidates and three candidates from religious minorities on as many Lok Sabha seats besides Mr. Jarange-Patil’s nomination from Jalna.
Mr. Raut denied that the VBA’s set of demands would cause any discord within the MVA just ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
“There are no differences among us. The leaders whom Mr. Ambedkar has given authority to participate in seat-sharing were present yesterday. It is not as if the VBA is adamant on contesting on 27 seats. It is just that they have been preparing on so many seats. Every party, be it the Sena (UBT) or the Congress, has the right to prepare on as many seats as they wish. Just because we prepare on all 48 Lok Sabha seats, does not mean we are going to demand or get as many constituencies to contest in a coalition,” he said.
Despite not having a single MP in Maharashtra, Mr. Ambedkar has calculated that a weak MVA – consisting of an atrophied Shiv Sena and a NCP beset by internal schisms – cannot do without the VBA’s strong Dalit-minority base, and has accordingly calibrated his demands for the VBA to be a dominant player within the Opposition coalition in the State.
Adopting a placatory tone towards Mr. Ambedkar, Mr. Raut said the VBA was combating the prevailing ‘dictatorship’ in the country in a very strong manner, especially in Maharashtra.
“Everyone in Maharashtra knows Prakash Ambedkar’s views and is seeing the way in which he is combating those who are destroying the Constitution written by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar [Mr. Ambedkar’s grandfather]. The MVA, too, is of the same view that we must respond aggressively to such forces [alluding to the BJP]. So, we will all come together in the polls,” said the Sena (UBT) leader.
Mr. Ambedkar, who was finally inducted into the MVA last month, has always been a tricky customer for the coalition.
While Mr. Ambedkar had formed an alliance with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) early last year, he has strongly expressed his frustrations at the Congress dragging its feet over inducting the VBA into the Opposition MVA coalition in Maharashtra.
Both the Congress and the NCP have been extremely wary of taking Mr. Ambedkar on board given that in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Ambedkar’s party, then allied with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, had played havoc by cannibalising the Ambedkarite and Muslim votes that traditionally went to the Congress and the NCP, resulting in the defeats of at least nine to ten Congress candidates.
