Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut expressed on Tuesday said Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is interested in engaging in discussions regarding seat-sharing with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), despite the VBA having already announced candidates for several Lok Sabha seats.
In a conversation with PTI, Raut reiterated his call for the elimination of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in favor of conducting elections using ballot papers. He argued that if polling isn't conducted via EVMs, the BJP will face the consequences.
While Prakash Ambedkar had been in discussions with the MVA, comprising the Congress, the Nationalist Congress (Sharadchandra Pawar), and the Shiv Sena (UBT), for the Lok Sabha elections, he recently unveiled candidates for 20 out of the 48 seats.
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Raut, representing the Sena (UBT), asserted that Ambedkar's party stopped discussions with the MVA, despite the MVA presenting a proposal for five seats, including Akola, Ramtek, Dhule, and a Mumbai seat. "We were not the one to stop the dialogue with the VBA. On the contrary, we are still keen on holding talks with the party," he said, PTI reported.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019
Highlighting the outcome of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where VBA candidates secured third place in numerous constituencies while candidates from the Congress or NCP (undivided) secured second place, Raut suggested that the vote split favored winning candidates, predominantly from the BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena.
The Sena (UBT) leader further outlined that Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde would soon lose his chair, and asserted that the party doesn't welcome "traitors".