The seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha election between parties in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is expected to be finalised on February 27, said leaders from the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction on Thursday.
Even as both the MVA partners claimed that seat-sharing arrangements were going smoothly between the parties that constituted the Opposition in Maharashtra, tensions between the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi – the latest inductee in the MVA – and the Congress continued to persist, while Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut reiterated again that his party would contest on 23 of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
“There is complete unity within the MVA, including Mr. Ambedkar’s VBA, regarding the seat-sharing process. We are taking great care in the process and there is excellent coordination among the MVA partners. The heads of all MVA parties [Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction, the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) and Mr. Ambedkar] will be meeting on February 27 to take a final decision on the seat-sharing arrangement,” Mr. Raut said.
Refuting suggestions of any pre-decided formula, Mr. Raut said all parties in the MVA would be allotted seats as per their respective strength while stressing there were “no differences” between the MVA parties.
He, however, reiterated his expectation that the Sena (UBT) would contest on 23 Lok Sabha seats.
“We are the real Shiv Sena, not some gang like Eknath Shinde’s faction. The undivided Shiv Sena had contested on 23 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This time, too, we will fight on the same number of seats,” Mr. Raut said.
The Sena (UBT) leader’s remarks had been the source of much discord between his party and the Mumbai Congress unit, eventually leading to the defection of Congressman Milind Deora to the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction following the wrangling over the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat, currently being held by the Sena (UBT).
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole downplayed Mr. Raut’s statements about the Sena (UBT) contesting 23 seats, stating that every worker of a particular party had his aspirations on the number of seats his party ought to contest on.
“Regardless of what Mr. Raut says, the MVA’s objective is to ensure a BJP-free Maharashtra. It is only when we - Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, and myself - come jointly before you, will the seat-sharing be revealed,” he said.
Mr. Patole further said that as per surveys, the MVA was looking good on 42 of the 48 seats.
“We will come to a decision on the seat-sharing by February 27-28. The allotment will be on elective merit. We will also be completing discussions with Mr. Ambedkar by end of this week,” Mr. Patole said.
However, Mr. Ambedkar, whose relations with the Congress has been rather frigid, said the VBA could be considered contesting the election as a constituent of the MVA only after the three main parties first finished their respective seat-sharing arrangements.
Responding to suggestions that Mr. Ambedkar could fight separately if the MVA’s seat-sharing arrangements proved unsatisfactory, Mr. Patole said, “We hope Mr. Ambedkar will remain with us till the end. We want to take all smaller parties with us in this election.”
Meanwhile, notes of discord emanated from within the ruling ‘mahayuti’ (the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the BJP, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP) over a rumoured seat-sharing formula in which the BJP was to contest on 32 seats while the Shinde Sena would be given only 12 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led faction a mere four.
Senior leader and Shinde Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar hit out at the purported formula, remarking that Eknath Shinde’s party was “not tied to the BJP’s apron strings”.
Shinde faction Minister Deepak Kesarkar, however, denied such a formula had been decided on while BJP MLA Ram Kadam said that the only objective of the mahayuti partners was how to win the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats.
