MUMBAI: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday finalised its seat-sharing formula for the biennial Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections, with the Congress set to contest eight seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) six seats and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) three seats.
The seat-sharing arrangement was discussed at a meeting of MVA leaders held at YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai. The meeting was attended by Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal, NCP (SP) working president and MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai and MLA Ambadas Danve.
The Election Commission of India has announced elections for 17 local body constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. June 1, 2026, is the last date for filing nominations.
Sapkal said the alliance partners had reached a consensus on 15 of the 17 seats, while discussions over the remaining two seats would also be resolved amicably.
According to the formula announced by the alliance, the Congress will contest the Nagpur, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Amravati, Ahilyanagar, Solapur and Dharashiv-Latur-Beed seats.
The NCP (SP) will contest the Pune, Thane and Sangli-Satara seats, while Shiv Sena (UBT) will field candidates from Raigad, Jalgaon, Parbhani-Hingoli and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The party is also expected to contest two additional seats as part of the final arrangement.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Sapkal alleged that the ruling Mahayuti alliance was using money power to influence the MLC elections.
“Opposition corporators are allegedly being poached, and advances of Rs 5 lakh each are reportedly being paid. ‘Baap bada na bhaiyya, sabse bada rupaiyya’ has become the ruling mantra,” he claimed.
He further alleged that even parties within the ruling alliance were indulging in poaching and accused the BJP-led Mahayuti of turning elections into a “marketplace for horse-trading”.
“The MVA is contesting this election against the authoritarianism of the BJP-led alliance,” Sapkal said.
The Congress also announced the appointment of senior leaders as observers for various constituencies.
MP Praniti Shinde has been appointed observer for Solapur, while former minister Vishwajeet Kadam will oversee Sangli-Satara and Legislative Council leader Satej Patil will monitor Pune.
Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has been assigned Ahilyanagar, MP Chandrakant Handore Jalgaon, and former minister K C Padvi Nashik.
MP Ravindra Chavan will oversee Nanded, while former minister and MLA Amit Deshmukh has been assigned Dharashiv-Latur-Beed.
Other appointments include MP Kalyan Kale for Parbhani-Hingoli, former MP Tukaram Renge Patil for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna, former state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre for Yavatmal, and former state president Nana Patole for Bhandara-Gondia.
Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar has been appointed for Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, former minister Yashomati Thakur for Amravati, former minister Nitin Raut for the Nagpur bypoll, former minister Naseem Khan for Thane, and Muzaffar Hussain for Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
