Maharashtra Congress Asks Uddhav, Sharad Pawar To Consider Prakash Ambedkar's Seat-Sharing Proposal

Nana Patole expressed disappointment over Shiv Sena(UBT) Thackeray's unilateral announcement of his party's candidate for the Sangli Lok Sabha seat, a constituency traditionally contested by the Cong.

File photo of Congress leader Nana Patole

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday asked the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to consider a seat-sharing proposal for the Lok Sabha polls put forth by the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of BR Ambedkar, in the state.

Nana Patole expressed disappointment over Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray's unilateral announcement of his party's candidate for the Sangli Lok Sabha seat, a constituency traditionally contested by the Congress. "The Congress is taking steps to forge an alliance, and Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar (chief of NCP-SP) need to agree to the proposal moved by Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi", PTI quoted Patole as saying.

 However, the Congress leader, however, did not reveal much information on Ambedkar's proposal for a tie-up in Maharashtra between the four parties. Patole made this statement on the eve of the nomination deadline for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. This phase includes five Lok Sabha seats in the Vidarbha region-Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur, and Chandrapur. He addressed reporters after Congress candidate Vikas Thakre filed his nomination from Nagpur, where Union minister Nitin Gadkari is the BJP nominee.

Maharashtra Congress Chief Expressed Displeasure as Shiv Sena Announces Candidate for Sangli Lok Sabha Seat in western Maharashtra. Nana Patole further remarked, "The Congress traditionally contests Sangli and Bhiwandi (in Thane district) Lok Sabha seats. What happened in Sangli is not right. The Congress party has good candidates for both the seats."

In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) opted to contest separately. As per political analysts observed that the VBA's participation fragmented the votes that would have otherwise consolidated behind Congress and NCP candidates. Consequently, this division indirectly benefited the nominees of the BJP and the united Shiv Sena on multiple seats across Maharashtra. The outcome of this fragmentation was evident in the final results, with the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance securing victory in 41 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state