MVA Deadlock Continues as Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) Insist on 100 Seats

Mumbai: The Congress party is still hopeful that it will contest at least 100 Maharashtra assembly seats. Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have agreed to contest 85 seats each. Discussions are still happening on the remaining 33 seats. State Congress president Nana Patole said that the MVA is likely to announce its final seat sharing agreement on Friday. Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that the Congress will get 15-20 more seats from the remaining seats.

Despite the MVA leaders claiming that they have resolved all the differences among them over the seat distribution, there is still no clarity on which party will be contesting which seats. Mr. Wadettiwar said that Congress will win more seats based on the “elective merits” of its candidates. “While allotting seats, w.”e have decided to allot seats on the basis of merit without thinking about how many seats to whom. The remaining seats will be distributed in such a way that Congress’s final seat share will be between 100 and 105,” the Congress leader said.

The party has staked claim on the highest number of seats in the MVA on the basis of its Lok Sabha performance. It fielded candidates on 18 Lok Sabha seats out of which 12 won. Besides, Congress’s rebel candidate Vishal Patil also won the Sangli seat and returned to the party after the election.

If the Congress gets more than 100 Assembly seats, it means that the Shiv Sena (UBT) will have to settle for less than 100 seats. Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) will be contesting 85 seats while some seats will be given to smaller partners such as Peasants and Workers Party, Samajwadi Party and left parties.

However, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is not willing to accept fewer seats than the Congress. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence that his party will get close to 100 seats. “We are already near the century. We have reached 85 and the game is not over yet. There is one more day left,” he said.

Raut further indicated that MVA constituents could still exchange a few more seats with each other. He reiterated that his party has not declared any list of candidates and the list of 65 candidates being “circulated on social media” is not official. Interestingly, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s official PRO shared the list of 65 candidates, which included the name of Aaditya Thackeray, with journalists on Wednesday evening.

However, Mr. Raut said, “Shiv Sena officially never releases a list. A list has come up on X on Wednesday. But that list has some mistakes which need to be rectified.”

October 29 is the last day for filing nominations for the Assembly elections. According to sources, Sharad Pawar is also not happy with the delay caused by the bickering between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress.

State Congress president Patole said that the MVA will finalise its seat sharing by Friday morning. “We have already asked some candidates, who are certain to get tickets, to file their nominations. The MVA will announce its final seat sharing by tomorrow morning,” he said.