Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday clarified that he did not intend to say that Congress is zero but meant to say that the Grand Old Party has zero MPs in Maharashtra. The controversy regarding Raut's statements kicked off when he earlier said that the discussion of seat-sharing with Congress would begin at 'zero' as it does not have a single seat in the state. The Congress in response to the statement said that it is the biggest Opposition party in the Maharashtra assembly.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday said, "I had said that Congress will have to start from zero, I did not say that Congress is zero. Congress does not have a single MP in Maharashtra. We had 18 MPs but some left and we've 6 MPs now. Our alliance is there with Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi will win around 40 seats. BJP needs EVMs to win, they cannot win alone. Their alliance is with EVM."
How Congress Does Not Have A Single MP In Maharashtra Assembly
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Shiv Sena (Undivided) contested 23 out of 48 seats. Out of the 23, it was able to secure 18 seats. Following this, Eknath Shinde parted ways with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Undivided) and joined hands with the BJP. This switch took 12 MPs out of Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's pocket. Now Thackeray-led Shiv Sena remains with just 6 MPs.
Congress was able to secure just one seat in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha election in 2019. Balu Dhanorkar won the Chandrapur constituency but he passed away in May this year, following which Congress was left with zero Lok Sabha MPs.
Now, the Grand Old Party and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are facing a tough situation in terms of seat-sharing. However, this issue is not just limited to the Shiv Sena (UBT) but other parties have also hinted at going solo in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, as reported by ANI.
Rift Between I.N.D.I.A Member Deepens
The rift between the member parties of the I.N.D.I.A bloc can be seen clearly. Raut on Friday said, “This is Maharashtra and Shiv Sena is the biggest party here. Congress is a national party. Uddhav Thackeray is having positive discussions with the decision-making leaders of Congress. We have always said that Shiv Sena has always been fighting on 23 seats in Lok Sabha elections, including Dadra and Nagar Haveli and that will be firm."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also said earlier that she wants to test the Bengal waters in the general elections alone.
According to an ANI report, Congress has said that it will start formal discussions on seat-sharing with the alliance partners in January.