MUMBAI: The Maharashtra opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has reportedly completed seat-sharing talks for the 48 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Sources said the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena will contest 20 seats, Congress 18 while the rest 10 by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
MVA sources said smaller parties such as the Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan will be given seats by the respective alliance partners. If the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi gets along, then it could be handed out at least three seats from the Shiv Sena and Congress quota.
State Congress chief Nana Patole, senior party leader Balasaheb Thorat and former CM Prithviraj Chavan met Sharad Pawar on Thursday at his Silver Oak residence to finalise the deal. NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said the discussions are over on the Lok Sabha elections and that no further meeting was expected.
Sources said a formal announcement could be delayed “because the BJP could poach or threaten the alliance candidates, a situation we would like to avoid.”
“Most of the tricky issues over seat-sharing are sorted out. The rest will be resolved by party seniors,” Awhad said. Sources said that Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is unlikely to be a part of the larger Opposition alliance in Maharashtra.
“Prakash Ambedkar is looking for 27 seats, which is impractical. This shows Ambedkar is more interested in not joining the alliance than being a part of it. We are keen to take him on board but he is working on a BJP script. He is giving some excuses for not joining the Opposition alliance,” said a source. Sources said the Uddhav Thackeray group is keen to contest as many seats as it did in 2019 and pretty much the same for the Congress and the NCP.
“We are also ready to swap the seats while keeping the winnability factor in mind. We have to stay united because public sentiment is against the establishment. For instance, farmers are not happy because of the low rates offered to their crops while the common man is troubled by high inflation, besides unemployment is a major factor among the youth. This pent-up anger has to be channelized properly,” he said.