LS Polls: Amid Rift With Congress Over Sangli, Sanjay Raut Says 'All 48 Seats In Maha Belongs To MVA'

MVA Seat Sharing: Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut today said that top Congress leadership should explain the situation to their party members if there is any dissatisfaction with seat-sharing formula.

File photo of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut

Source : PTI Images

MVA Seat Sharing: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said that if the members of the Congress party are unhappy or dissatisfied with the distribution of the seats within the alliance then it is the responsibility of the top leadership of the grand old party to explain the situation to their workers and communicate with them. He said that all forty-eight seats in Maharashtra belong to MVA. 

Reacting to the seat distribution in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of Lok Sabha Polls 2024, Raut told reporters today, "All the 48 seats in Maharashtra belong to Maha Vikas Aghadi and not particularly to Shiv Sena (UBT) or Congress."

"Shiv Sena (UBT) has a clear vision of winning all the seats (of MVA). Some people could be furious about Shiv Sena having Sangli seat, but they should note that Amravati and Kolhapur were our seats which were not given to us, but we explained to our workers the situation," Raut said.

#WATCH | Mumbai: On the seat distribution in MVA ahead of Lok Sabha Polls 2024, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut says, "All the 48 seats in Maharashtra belong to Maha Vikas Aghadi and not particularly to Shiv Sena (UBT) or Congress. Shiv Sena (UBT) has a clear vision of winning… pic.twitter.com/KP36786Nnq

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Earlier on Sunday, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said that there will be no seat-sharing talk in Maharashtra only till 2029. He implied that despite Congress’s unhappiness over Shiv Sena fielding a candidate on the Sangli seat, his party is unwilling to back out.  He had made the statement while addressing a press conference in Delhi after I.N.D.I.A bloc jointly conducted a mega rally on March 31.

"If some Congress people are furious in Sangli, then it is the responsibility of top leadership to explain them...We will try our best to win Sangli's seat," he added further. 

It is to be noted that the Congress expressed its displeasure over the Sena (UBT) fielding its candidate from the Sangli and Mumbai South Central seats. Notably, the move came at a time when the candidates for these constituencies were being discussed within the alliance. 

Uddhav's party had claimed earlier that there was barely any discussion on the Sangli seat. Sena (UBT) has fielded Chandrahar Patil from Sangli. The grand old party announced Vishal Patil, who is the grandson of former Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, from the same seat.

Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Seat Sharing In Maharashtra

As per media reports, the Maha Vikas Aghadi had finalised the seat-sharing formula for 44 seats of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Notably, four of the seats, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai North-West, Sangli, and Biwandi, remained to be finalised at that time. 

After a series of meetings held by the top MVA leaders, the alliance arrived at a formula: Shiv Sena (UBT) would contest from 19 constituencies, Congress from 16, and NCP (SP) from nine.