Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said the opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), arrived on a seat-sharing agreement on 210 of the 288 Maharashtra assembly seats.
The statement from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader comes even as Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole said that the discussions had been completed on his party's 96 seats.
Amid the ongoing differences over seat-sharing, the MVA allies—Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP)—have engaged in discussions with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar to resolve the issue.
The opposition parties, however, maintained that the Bharatiya Janata Party was spreading misinformation in the run-up to the assembly polls in Maharashtra, which will be held in a single phase on November 20. The results will be declared on November 23.
"The aim was to ensure the defeat of forces looting Maharashtra," Raut said in a swipe at the ruling alliance comprising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
"We have arrived at a consensus on 210 seats. It is a significant achievement. We aim to contest polls as a joint force, and we will defeat the forces looting Maharashtra," said Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP and key strategist for the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Meanwhile, the meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress Party for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections was held at the Congress Headquarters in New Delhi. Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Patole asserted there are no disagreements within the MVA, adding that discussions on seat-sharing were underway and would conclude soon.
"So far, discussions on 96 seats for Congress have been completed. Tomorrow, further talks will be held with Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. After these discussions, we will try to announce the list of candidates tomorrow itself," he said.
Uddhav's Sena To Break Away From Oppn Alliance?
Sanjay Raut's statement comes amid media reports that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party may break away from the MVA and contest all 288 seats on its own.
In the past few days, the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) are engaged in hectic parleys to finalise a seat-sharing deal, with speculation doing the rounds of the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) not being on the same page.
There have been reports that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a phone conversation with Raut, hinting at the Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP, which were allies for decades before going their separate ways in 2019, getting back together. The two parties broke off their alliance after the 2019 assembly polls.
However, denying the reports, Raut said, "The BJP is feeding false news. We know who is doing it. The party fears loss in the assembly polls and spreads misinformation. Raut said the BJP engineered a split in the Shiv Sena (in June 2022), brought down Thackeray's MVA government and also ensured the party name and symbol went to the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde."
Ruling Mahayuti Alliance Finalises Seat Sharing
The ruling Mahayuti alliance seems to have finalised its seat-sharing deal for the assembly polls.
According to a report in News18, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena is expected to fight on 78 seats, while Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may fight on 54 seats and the BJP may fight on 156 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already released its first list of 99 candidates on Sunday. Deputy chief minister Fadnavis will contest from his stronghold Nagpur South West, while Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule will contest from Kamthi.