NEW DELHI: The I.N.D.I.A. bloc faces a tightrope walk in Maharashtra as the Shiv Sena (UBT) demands the maximum number of seats out of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
In a preliminary meeting of the three alliance partners — Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress — in the national capital on Tuesday, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction made it clear that it needs the maximum number of tickets, as in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections it won the maximum number of seats (18 seats).
The seat-sharing meeting was attended by Mukul Wasnik, Ashok Gehlot, Salman Khurshid and Mohan Prakash from the Congress. Sanjay Raut, Vinayak Raut from Shiv Sena (UBT) and Jitendra Awhad from the NCP.
The Congress is expected to get the maximum number of seats after the SS UBT.
Speaking to the media, Awhad said Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will also be a part of the alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.
Insiders claim that the VBA is expected to get around two seats in the alliance.
Raut also affirmed that the VBA will be joining the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
He said, “The VBA will be a part of the alliance now. We have discussed seat-sharing and soon it will be finalised. We will fight together and win.”
Tuesday's meeting is a precursor to a bigger meeting that is expected over this weekend between the top leaders of the three parties -- former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and SS UBT president Uddhav Thackeray.
The final seal of approval on the seat sharing will be done after this meeting.
The I.N.D.I.A. bloc is moving fast with the seat-sharing discussions and scheduling meetings of various states.
On Tuesday, AAP leader and its Delhi convener Gopal Rai said, "The (seat-sharing) talks have begun between the two parties. We kept our stand on contesting in an alliance in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Gujarat. Till now, there have been positive discussions."
