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Maharashtra assembly polls: SP may go solo on 20 seats as Akhilesh unhappy after Dhule snub by MVA
People familiar with the matter now indicate that the SP may go solo on 20-odd seats in Maharashtra if they were not given the five seats they had asked from MVA.
Unhappy with seat distribution by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the next month’s assembly elections in Maharashtra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said there is no place for “sacrifice in politics”.
He made the comment while speaking to the media in Delhi amid reports the MVA has announced a candidate for the Dhule assembly seat, which was being sought by the Samajwadi Party.
People familiar with the matter now indicate that the SP may go solo on 20-odd seats in Maharashtra if they were not given the five seats they had asked from MVA.
“Do not ask me these questions, we are the ones being ignored. You should ask the ones who are ignoring us. Our SP state chief (Abu Asim Azmi) will decide from we will contest in Maharashtra. First, we will try to be in the alliance, but if they do not keep us in alliance, then we will contest only those seats on which our organisation is strong. The SP has been working so that there is no loss to the alliance. But in politics, one should understand that there is no place for sacrifice,” Yadav said in Delhi.
He had visited Maharashtra last week and addressed public meetings in Dhule and Malegaon.
On October 18, SP MLA and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Abu Asim Azmi had announced on X that his party has named four candidates, including two for the seats on which it already has lawmakers.
The candidates that the SP has named in Maharashtra include Abu Asim Azmi from Mankhurd Shivajinagar, Raees Sheikh from Bhiwandi East, Riaz Azmi from Bhiwandi West and Shane Hind from Malegaon.
Azmi had earlier stated that his party was seeking 12 seats from MVA. Now, the SP has asked for five seats from MVA, people familiar with matter said. Despite this the MVA named Anil Gote of the Shiv Sena (UBT) for the Dhule city seat.
The SP chief had sought this seat from MVA and not getting it is the main reason for his unhappiness with the seat distribution by the MVA, those familiar with the matter said.
Initially, the seats which SP sought from MVA included Shivaji Nagar, Bhiwandi East, Bhiwandi West, Malegaon, Dhule, Anushaktinagar, Aurangabad East, Byculla, Versova and a few more.
