Bolstered Cong looking at 130 seats in assembly polls

In the run-up to the state assembly elections, Congress is looking to contest around 130 seats, which may create a problem in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. Buoyed by success in the Lok Sabha polls, the party leadership now wants to have a significant share in the seat sharing

MUMBAI: In the run-up to the state assembly elections, Congress is looking to contest around 130 seats, which may create a problem in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. Buoyed by success in the Lok Sabha polls, the party leadership now wants to have a significant share in the seat sharing as it has emerged as the single largest party in the state.

The Congress leadership has insisted on winnability being the sole criteria for finalising seat-sharing formula for assembly polls. (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

On Friday, Congress appointed two committees, one for the state and another for Mumbai, to negotiate the sharing of seats with the allies. The state level committee comprises seven leaders - state party president Nana Patole, legislative unit chief Balasaheb Thorat, leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and senior leaders Nitin Raut, Arif Naseem Khan and Satej Patil. The committee for Mumbai has city president Varsha Gaikwad, former Mumbai chief Ashok Jagtap and Malvani legislator Aslam Shaikh as its members.

Congress insiders said that the party has identified 110 seats where it is in the best position. “There are 110 seats where the party is confident of winning. These are the best seats of Congress in the present scenario. It includes 44 seats that the party had won in the 2019 polls,” said a senior Congress leader wishing to remain anonymous.

“The party lost 16 seats with a margin of less than 5,000 votes in the last elections. These are constituencies where we are in a better position than our allies. Besides, the party is expecting to induct leaders from other parties for whom we need a few more seats,” he explained further.

Significantly, the Congress leadership has insisted on the winnability criteria for finalising the seat-sharing formula for the assembly polls. The same was discussed in a meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday. “The leadership has suggested to the state leaders to hold seat-wise discussions between the three parties and stick to the seats where we are confident of winning,” Congress insiders said.

This assumes significance in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha elections when Congress was forced to compromise on two seats - Mumbai South Central and Sangli - by Shiv Sena (UBT). Despite Congress’ insistence on both the seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) president unilaterally declared their candidates for the same. Of the two seats, it badly lost the Sangli Lok Sabha seat. Congress rebel candidate Vishal Patil won the polls with a margin of over one lakh votes.

Congress leaders said that the party does not want to repeat the same mistake again, especially when it is clearly visible that the party is getting overwhelming response from the voters. Out of 17, the party won 13 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. Besides, Congress rebel Vishal Patil won from Sangli as an independent and later announced support to the party.

In such a scenario, seat sharing would not be an easy task for the MVA parties.

The Congress leadership is also interested in joint campaigns for the assembly polls. “It will have more impact if top leaders from all the three parties come together and have joint meetings and rallies,” said a top Congress leader. The issue will be discussed with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) leadership, he informed.

Meanwhile, the party’s campaign for assembly polls would be launched on August 20, the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in Mumbai, in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.