Maharashtra Assembly Elections: Putting an end to days of stalemate, Maha Vikas Aghadi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP) on Wednesday announced that each party will be contesting 85 seats each in Maharashtra assembly elections. However, deliberations to arrive at a final pact are still underway as the three allies are discussing the sharing of the remaining 33 seats of the total 288 seats.
Addressing a press conference, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut stated on Wednesday that consensus had been reached on 270 out of a total of 288 seats for the Maharashtra elections. "We will include Samajwadi Party, PWP, CPI(M), CPI, and AAP. Discussions are still on for the remaining seats. We have amicably arrived at a consensus on 270 seats. MVA stands united to defeat the Mahayuti government," Raut said.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that the remaining 33 seats will be left for other smaller alliance parties. The three allies have decided to hold talks for 18 seats with other parties including the Samajwadi Party and finalise deal by Thursday. Notably, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP had demanded 12 seats from the MVA and declared its candidates for five constituencies.
"We've decided that Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest on 85 seats each and on remaining 18 seats, we will have talks with our alliance parties including Samajwadi Party and by tomorrow they will be cleared. We are contesting the elections as Maha Vikas Aghadi and we will form the government," he said.
Explaining the seats division, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai said: "The three MVA constituents have arrived at a consensus on 85 seats each (totalling 255). Among the remaining 33 constituencies, the allies are discussing 18 seats among themselves, while the rest segments (15) will be allocated to smaller parties," Desai added.
The MVA had been facing difficulties in reaching a common ground due to a bitter dispute between Sena (UBT) and Congress on some seats, especially in the Vidarbha region and Mumbai. The grand old party wanted to contest Vidarbha given its strong performance in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections will take place in a single phase on November 20. The results will be declared on November 23.