Congress, NCP (SP) Deny Raut’s Claim of 99% Mumbai Seats Agreement

 Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday denied any rift in Maha Vikas Aghadi over seat sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly election. According to reports, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has demanded 22 out of 36 Assembly seats in Mumbai. Mr. Raut claimed that the MVA has finalised “99 per cent seats” in Mumbai. However, the Congress and NCP (SP) denied any agreement on seat sharing so far and said that the talks will continue.

Expressing confidence that the MVA will form the next government in Maharashtra, Mr. Raut said, “On Saturday, we held a meeting in Mumbai. Leaders of all three alliance partners were present in the meeting, where he had smooth discussion on Mumbai seats. Mumbai is a big region and we have reached consensus on 99 per cent of seats in the city.”

Some Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders have claimed that their party will contest 22 seats in Mumbai. When asked about it, Mr Raut said, “At the moment I will not comment on any claims made by our party leaders or our alliance partners. But the decision on 99 per cent of Mumbai seats has been taken and we will start discussions on the rest of Maharashtra from August 27.”

However, the Congress and NCP (SP) said that the MVA’s seat sharing talks have not even started as yet. Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said no seat-sharing deal has been finalised either for Mumbai or any other region in the state. He also said that the Congress has staked claim on 16 Mumbai seats. “Our discussions will continue. We did not take any decision in Saturday’s meeting. We will take the call in future meetings,” he said.

Echoing the Congress spokesperson, NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapse also denied that any decision has been taken on the seat sharing. He claimed that the Sharad Pawar-led party has demanded six seats in Mumbai.

NCP (SP)’s state president Jayant Patil said that some disputes on seat sharing among the MVA allies are expected, but the alliance will resolve those disputes. “There are 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra and the situation in each constituency is different. Whenever we hold seat sharing talks, some disputes are expected. But we have decided to stick together. We will understand each other and find a way out. The MVA should remain united in any situation. We want to face the election together,” he said.