A day after “hiccups” in the Bihar seat-sharing talks of the INDIA bloc, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a coalition comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, spearheaded a generous agreement on Tuesday to contest the Lok Sabha polls. Sources indicate that the MVA-INDIA has agreed on a seat-sharing pact for Maharashtra, the State that accounts for a total of 48 Lok Sabha constituencies. Although not officially announced, sources suggest that the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest on 20 seats each.
While the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena initially demanded 23 seats in the early set of negotiations, the party has now agreed to field candidates from 20 Lok Sabha seats. The meeting took place at the residence of Congress leader Mukul Wasnik, where leaders of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP were present.
“All the members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi came out of the meeting with smiles after we sat down to discuss seat-sharing. I want to assure everyone that we will fight elections together. We have no differences about seat-sharing...We discussed in detail the Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi as well,” said Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut.
An NCP representative said that there was a discussion on all the seats, and everything is positive. “The meeting was more successful than expected... There are no differences among us,” said NCP-Sharad Pawar faction leader Dr Jitendra Awhad. Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav mentioned that the meeting was held in a very positive environment. “Everyone is happy. More progress will take place on January 12,” Yadav told the media after the late evening meeting.
Congress’ Salman Khurshid, who attended the meeting for Uttar Pradesh, remarked that things were moving in the “right direction.” “We are on the same page, and I feel we could communicate very well,” he added, calling it an “excellent meeting.” When asked about the possibility of chemistry developing between Samajwadi Partyand Congress, the former Union minister said it was “beyond” his imagination. “We just need to be firm and take it forward,” he added.
After holding meetings with Bihar allies JD(U) and RJD, as well as with AAP for seats in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Goa, Congress National Alliance Committee held a meeting with leaders of Maharashtra allies and the first round of discussions with the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav. In Bihar, where Congress is in a coalition with RJD and JD(U), and with Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in West Bengal, seat-sharing remains an issue among the partners as there seems to be no breakthrough in the matter.
Sources said the meeting was scheduled after the former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena declared that they would contest 23 seats in Maharashtra. The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, which lost its tag of being the “original” one, is a part of MVA along with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Congress. Congress and other regional parties, including RJD, JD(U), AAP, Trinamool, and DMK, have recently joined hands to form a joint Opposition front INDIA with the aim of putting up a united fight against the ruling BJP to counter the Modi juggernaut.
However, seat-sharing remains a significant challenge as they try to accommodate each other in common electoral spaces. In the case of Bihar, it was indicated that out of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, 17 each are likely to be allotted to the JD(U) and the RJD. The Congress is likely to get five seats, and the CPI ML may get one seat to contest the general elections. Congress’ first meeting with AAP reportedly concluded at a place where AAP proposed offering three Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in Delhi.
Expecting a reciprocation of equal measure, AAP has sought one Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, three in Haryana, and one in Goa.
