Patole Furious After Raut Calls Maha Congress Leaders Incapable of Taking Decisions

Mumbai: The seat-sharing talks within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has reached a crisis with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Congress trading barbs against each other. While Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut called Maharashtra Congress leaders “incapable of taking decisions,” state Congress chief Nana Patole hit back at him saying “If Mr. Raut is not even listening to Uddhav Thackeray then it’s his issue.” Uddhav Thackeray also said that seat sharing negotiations should not be stretched so much that it breaks the alliance.

The dispute between the Sena UBT and Congress in the seat-sharing talks is over the Vidarbha region of the state on which both allies have been staking claims. While the Sena UBT is demanding it should get at least nine to 10 seats in the Vidarbha region, Congress leaders like Patole and Vijay Wadettiwar, who are from Vidarbha, have opposed the demand. In the meeting held on Thursday night regarding the seat allocation, there were reports of Patole and Raut verbally clashing with each other over the issue.

Commenting on it, Mr Raut said instead of state Congress leaders he would talk to top Congress leaders in Delhi to finalise the issue. “There is very little time in hand and the decisions on the seat sharing must be expedited. I think the state leaders are not capable of taking any decision on seat sharing and they have to send a list of everything to Delhi. It is important that the discussion should take place with the central leadership of Congress,” he said.

The Sena (UBT) leader said he had spoken to Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and would also talk to Rahul Gandhi later in the day.

“We would like to state that Vidarbha is a part of Maharashtra and not anyone’s fiefdom. We gave a six-time elected seat like Ramtek to the Congress during the Lok Sabha polls. Similarly, we gave Amravati seat to them. I don’t think it is wrong if we now hope for more seats. Our workers feel that we should get more seats in the Vidhan Sabha,” Mr. Raut said.

Mr. Patole expressed his dissent saying he does not want to talk about what Mr. Raut said. “Our top leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi are not in the discussion of seat sharing. They do not attend the meeting. Same thing (goes) with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are not in the meeting. We discuss on their behalf and convey the information to our superiors. Now if Sanjay Raut does not listen to Thackeray, that is his question,” he said.

Shiv Sena UBT leader Anil Desai and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Jitendra Awhad, who were also present, attempted to calm Mr. Patole. Mr. Desai tried to downplay the spat, insisting there was no significant disagreement within the alliance.

Meanwhile, Mr. Thackeray said he would sort out the issue amicably. “Whenever there is an alliance, there are bound to be some disputes over the seat allocation. But the matter should not be stretched to the extent of it getting broken. The matter has not reached me yet. I will look into it.”

The MVA had thrashed the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the Lok Sabha polls by winning 30 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. Vidhan Sabha polls in the state will be held on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.