nAmid intense seat-sharing talks among the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Congress on Monday announced that the discussion on its share of 96 seats had been completed and the party would come out with its list of candidates after holding one more round of confabulation with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday.
Talking to media persons in New Delhi where he has gone to hold consultations with the party high command on the seat sharing matters, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole denied that there were any differences within the MVA. He als0 rubbished the speculation that the Shiv Sena (UBT) would walk out of the MVA and join the ruling MahaYuti.
“There are also absolutely no differences among the constituents within the MVA. The seat-sharing talks are continuing. Till now, the discussion on the Congress’ share of 96 seats has been completed. Tomorrow, we will hold one more round of talks with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and release our list of candidates,” Patole said.
“There is absolutely no truth in the speculation in a section of the media that the Shiv Sena (UBT) would walk out of the MVA and join the MahaYuti.. All I can say is that the BJP is trying to sow seeds of confusion within the MVA, because it will face a humiliating defeat in the State Assembly polls. The Congress and its allies are working hard to install the MVA government in the state,” Patole said.
Given that there has been some delay in the MVA constituents –comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) – formalising their seat- tie-up among them, the fact that ahead of a formal joint announcement by the Opposition grand alliance, the Congress has chosen to jump the gun and announced that it has reached an understanding on its share of 96 seats out of total 288 seats.
It may be recalled that in the 2019 State Assembly polls, the Congress had contested 125 seats, while its only ally – the then Sharad Pawar-led united NCP – had fielded candidates in another 125 constituencies, leaving the remaining 38 seats to their smaller allies.
After the 2019 Assembly polls, the Congress and NCP – which won 44 and 55 seats respectively –teamed up with the Uddhav Thackeray-led united Shiv Sena which had won 56 seats, to form the Democratic Front (DF) government in the state. However, the Uddhav Thackeray-led DF government fell after the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena breakaway faction joined hands with the BJP to form a government in the State. Subsequently, the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP also joined the government.
In the 2024 State Assembly polls, the Congress may contest around 100 seats, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) may field candidates in another 100 seats. The NCP (SP) may contest 60 seats, leaving the remaining 28 seats to the smaller allies like the Samajwadi Party (SP), Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP), CPI and CPI-M.
In a related development, the Shiv Sena (UBT) also dismissed the speculation that ahead of the Assembly polls, it would walk out of the MVA and join the BJP-led MahaYuti. Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut denied that he had met Union Home Minister and senior BJP eader Amit Shah ahead of the State Assembly polls nor would the Shiv Sena (UBT) would quit the MVA and join the MahaYuti ahead of the Assembly polls
Talking to media persons amid the ongoing seat-sharing talks, Raut “These are just rumours being spread by the BJP’s media machinery. We know who is doing it and why… We also have our own small ‘Pegagus’ set-up which keeps us informed,” Raut said. referring to the infamous Israeli spywares scam that rocked the Indian polity some four years ago.
“Supporting the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Shah is like joining hands with the Mughal General Afzal Khan…. The fact that the media keeps flashing such news indicates how much it is functioning under pressure… But we know from where these rumours are originating, why and how they are being circulated,” Raut said.
Ruling out the possibility of the Sena (UBT) joining the BJP-led MahaYuti, Raut said: “You all very know that the BJP broke up the undivided Shiv Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray, stole its name Shiv Sena and seized symbol bow and arrow and handed over the state's reins to a ‘traitor’” ( Eknath Shinde)”.
Claiming that the MVA leaders had reached a consensus over 210 out of the total 288 seats, Raut said: “It is a significant achievement. We aim to contest polls in unison and we will defeat the forces looting Maharashtra”.
