MVA Reaches Consensus In 260 Seats; Congress 115, Shiv Sena UBT 85, Sharad's NCP 75

As elections for the 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra have been scheduled for November 20, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Thursday reached a consensus in the seat-sharing deal for most of the seats with its member parties. The MVA has finalised the agreement for 260 seats out of the total 288 assembly constituencies, according to a report by The New Indian Express.

The dispute in the remaining 28 constituencies will be resolved soon, the media house reported, quoting sources. Given the Congress party’s spectacular performance in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, emerging as the single biggest party and securing 13 parliamentary constituencies from the state, the grand old party will reportedly contest between 110 and 115 seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT) will field 83 to 86 candidates, while the Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party will field 72 to 75. The alliance leaders informed us that the deal for the remaining seats will be finalized soon.

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A senior member of MVA said that the alliance partners are demanding particular seats, and thus it may take time to come to an agreement on those constituencies. “We are working out a formula to the satisfaction of all while keeping winning chances in mind,” TNIE quoted the leader.

The meeting conducted on Thursday was attended by Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, party leader Balasaheb Thorat, opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar, NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil, former home minister Anil Deshmukh and former minister Jitendra Ahwad, and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and MP Anil Desai.

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Samajwadi Party and the left parties will be given two to three seats for each other. The Peasants and Workers Party will also get two to three seats in assembly polls.

The report further said that the former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was insisting on more number of seats in Mumbai and Konkan belt, as they are the stronghold of the party.

“Congress will contest more seats in Vidarbha, while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) will contest more seats in western Maharashtra. Each party will try to win more seats to claim the CM post,” the media house quoted the MVA leader. Notably, the Congress has already cleared candidate names for 60 seats.

While it is observed that the grand old party would be able to deliver an impressive performance, given its performance in the general election, the electoral setback in the recently held Haryana assembly election has cast a shadow on the party. However, the alliance leaders have expressed their confidence that the Haryana election result will not have any bearing in Maharashtra.

The elections will be held in a single phase on November 20, while the result will be declared on November 23 along with Jharkhand.