MVA Kicks Off First Joint Rally for Maharashtra Polls Today

Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will hold its first joint rally on Thursday for the Maharashtra Assembly election in Mumbai. At the rally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge will announce the “Congress’s guarantees” in the presence of Shiv Sena(UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the event will be held at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in the evening. “Mr Gandhi will be on a one-day visit to Maharashtra. He will first participate in the ‘Sanvidhan Bachao’ meeting in Nagpur in the morning. After that, he will attend the MVA’s joint rally at the BKC,” he said.

In the past, the Congress released its "guarantee cards", containing poll promises for the 2024 general election and several recent state Assembly elections.

Among the MVA allies, the Congress is contesting the highest number of seats (103) in Maharashtra, followed by the Shiv Sena(UBT) 89 and the NCP(SP) 87 seats. Six seats have been given to other MVA allies, while there is no clarity on three Assembly segments.

According to reports, the MVA allies have also fielded candidates against each other in at least six seats. Congress’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala acknowledged “misunderstanding”, but insisted there are no rifts between the MVA allies. He claimed that the Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP is having a major internal fight.

“There are no issues among us. We are ready to fight the Assembly election even today. We have given equal treatment to all alliance partners,” Mr Chennithala said.

Taking a dig at the Mahayuti, the Congress leader said that it was the BJP fighting all seats in Maharashtra. He pointed out that several BJP leaders, including ministers and lawmakers, have joined either the Shiv Sena or the NCP and they have been declared the official candidates of the two parties.

Former BJP MP from Sangli, Sanjaykaka Patil and the party’s Sangli district president Nishikant Bhosale Patil will be contesting the Assembly election as NCP candidates from the Tasgaon and Islampur seats, respectively. The Ajit Pawar-led party has also fielded former BJP MP Pratap Patil-Chikhalikar, who lost the 2024 election from the Nanded Lok Sabha seat, from the Loha Assembly seat. Former BJP minister Rajkumar Badole is the NCP candidate from the Arjuni-Morgaon seat.

Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has fielded former BJP spokesperson N.C. Shaina from the Mumbadevi seat and former BJP MP Rajendra Gavit from the Palghar Assembly constituency.

“Mahayuti members are fighting amongst themselves. They are fighting from each other's quotas. The BJP leaders are fighting under the Shiv Sena and the NCP symbols. Actually, it is the BJP that is fighting alone. Mr Shinde and Mr Pawar are finished,” Mr Chennithala said.