The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners in Maharashtra, the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), will hold an urgent meeting on Thursday to discuss and resolve the seat-sharing issues ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, especially over the Sangli, Bhiwandi and Mumbai South Central seats.
The Maharashtra Congress had on Wednesday rushed Vishwajeet Kadam to Delhi to talk to the party high command about the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s move to field a candidate from Sangli, a former Congress bastion. The Congress leaders had been directed by the party high command to hold a meeting and resolve the issue, a source said.
“All the three MVA constituents are meeting in Mumbai around 4.30 pm. We will discuss Sangli, Bhiwandi and Mumbai South Central seats and try to resolve the issues,” said Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe.
However, Sanjay Raut, chief spokesperson of the Shiv Sena (UBT), said, “There will be no discussion on seat-sharing or replacing seats. The discussion will center around campaign strategy, direction and issues to be raised during the campaigning period.”
The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s decision to field wrestler Chandrahar Patil from Sangli has not gone down well with the Congress as the party wanted to field Vishal Patil, son of former chief minister Vasantdada Patil, from the seat. “Congress would have won the seat last time itself if the VBA [Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi] candidate had not garnered a huge number of votes. Traditionally, the Congress has contested the Sangli seat and won it several times. The Shiv Sena has little to do with the Sangli seat,” a top Congress leader said.
In Bhiwandi, both Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are at loggerheads as they want to contest the seat.
In Mumbai South Central, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced the name of Anil Desai but the Congress is keen on fielding Varsha Gaikwad from the seat.
The Lok Sabha elections for the 48 seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases from April 19 to May 20.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 28-03-2024 at 13:44 IST
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