Manifesto, Future Actions & Mega Rally In Agenda As MVA Leaders Meet In Delhi Ahead of Maharashtra Polls

The MVA meeting took place two days after the Aam Aadmi Party announced that it will be going solo and contesting all 36 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra polls.

Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly Polls, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance's party leaders held a meeting at the residence of Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Wednesday. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Udhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra LoP and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, and Kharge, were among those who attended the meeting.

Following the meeting, Wadettiwar said that the leaders discussed about the manifesto and seat-sharing formula of the alliance, and also decided what the future course of action would be. Confirming the presence of all three party leaders, he said that the MVA leaders have planned to organise a rally or meeting on August 16 at the Shanmukhananda Hall.

"For the upcoming elections in Maharashtra, MVA will officially come together on 16 August. Work on our manifesto is underway under the leadership of former CM Prithviraj Chavan... We will organise one or two more meetings by the end of this month," he added.

The meeting comes two days after the Aam Aadmi Party announced that it will be going solo in the upcoming Maharashtra polls. AAP also stated that it will contest all 36 seats.

Meanwhile, Congress MP KC Venugopal, who was also present at the meeting, said that there were no political discussions during the meeting and that it was merely a courtesy meet.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut was also present at the MVA meeting.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are anticipated to be held in October as the tenure of the legislative assembly is schdeuled to end on November 26.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Tuesday claimed that Thackeray, who is on a three-day visit to Delhi, travelled to the national capital for his chief ministerial ambitions, ignoring the rain-affected people of Maharashtra.

"Thackeray went to Delhi to get a better deal ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. It appears that he is more focussed on his political interests rather than addressing the sufferings of the people affected by rains," Nirupam told news agency PTI.