Congress Refuses Uddhav Thackeray's Demand For 23 Seat In Lok Sabha Election (Photo on X - Shivsena UBT Communication @ShivsenaUBTComm)

After the discussion on the seat sharing among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi partners, an alliance of the Indian National Congress and other parties, the Congress rejected its ally Shiv Sena (UBT)’s demand for 23 seats in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

After the split in the Shiv Sena, the majority of the members of the party had left the Uddhav Thackeray faction and sided with Eknath Shinde. Uddhav Thackeray’s faction is facing a significant challenge as the party lacks adequate leaders when it is divided, the congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said. Noting that after the split in Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, congress is the only party with a stable vote share in the state.

The undivided Shiv Sena was part of the BJP-led NDA alliance and in June 2022, Eknath Shinde along with 40 MLAs rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership, causing the collapse of Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Shinde and the other revolted MLAs later joined the BJP, forming the majority and thus forming the government in Maharashtra.

However, Sanjay said pointing out the leadership crisis in the Shiv Sena: “Shiv Sena may demand 23 seats, but what will they do with them? Shiv Sena”s leaders have left, causing a crisis. Lack of candidates is a problem for Shiv Sena.” He also requested the Sena members to avoid conflict to win more seats.

Emphasising the need for adjustment among the party members Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan said that the demand by the Shiv Sena was “excessive” at the current situation. He also said that every party desire larger shares of seats but there needs to be some adjustment among the parties.