Bickering within MVA over seat sharing for elections

There was a view that Shiv Sena (UBT) should contest on 15 seats and the other two allies — Congress and NCP — should fight on 13 seats each while the remaining seats should be left for smaller parties but none of them seems to be on the same page as of now

Mumbai: While the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has put forth a united front to contest the civic, Lok Sabha and assembly polls jointly, the consensus on sharing of seats between the three parties has become an uphill task for the coalition.

Mumbai, India - May 14, 2023: Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, State Congress president Nana Patole and party leaders Balasaheb Thorat, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Raut, Ashok Chavan during a meeting after the landslide Congress victory in Karnataka assembly elections at Sharad Pawar's Silver Oak residence, in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, May 14, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

There was a view that Shiv Sena (UBT) should contest on 15 seats and the other two allies — Congress and NCP — should fight on 13 seats each while the remaining seats should be left for smaller parties but none of them seems to be on the same page as of now.

Even when the formal talks are yet to be started, Sena (UBT) insisted on contesting all 18 seats that they had won in the last Lok Sabha elections in alliance with BJP in 2019. Congress wanted to contest 16 seats which were opposed by the partners saying on what grounds the party is seeking 16 seats when they could win only one seat in the last general polls in Maharashtra.

The bickering among the three parties may continue for a long time as they have decided to form a joint committee to suggest two-three formulas and one of them is going to be finalised by the leadership of the three parties, the insiders said.

Last Sunday, MVA decided to stay together and jointly contest the upcoming general and state assembly elections. The decision was taken in a joint meeting called by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar at his residence where Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole among other leaders were present.

The basic formula between the three opposition parties discussed was 15 seats for Shiv Sena (UBT) and 13 seats each for Congress and NCP. The rest of the seats will be used to accommodate smaller partners who would like to become MVA allies, the insiders said.

“The reports that each of the three parties will fight 16 seats is baseless. No such formula has been decided yet. Our party won 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and recently we won one seat in Dadra-Nagar Haveli. So, there is no question of fighting for less than 18 seats in Maharashtra,” Raut declared in Nanded on Friday.

According to the basic formula, Shiv Sena should contest on three seats in Mumbai that had won in the last general elections, Congress on two and NCP on one seat but Shiv Sena wants to fight on four seats. They are keen on contesting the Mumbai North East constituency and want Congress to leave it for them. “Of 48 corporators covering the constituency, 29 are from Shiv Sena and we want to maintain our strength,” a Shiv Sena leader said, wishing to remain anonymous.

At the same time, they are mulling sharing the Mumbai South Central seat with their ally Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). This is when Congress is also looking to contest the seat. “The party leadership is contemplating on Milind Deora’s name for the seat,” said a Congress leader, who does wish to be quoted. How come Congress will not contest even two seats in Mumbai,” he gushed.

Congress and NCP leaders are of the view that Ambedkar should contest from Akola and with the help of three parties, he can succeed in winning the seat this time. This will help him in strengthening VBA in the assembly elections and other local bodies.

In Mumbai, Congress is likely to contest from Mumbai North and Mumbai South Central or Mumbai North East while NCP is keen on contesting from Mumbai North Central constituency. They are deliberating on former minister Nawab Malik’s name as the candidate, in case the latter comes out on bail. “We have no other candidate and he is the only leader who can win the seat if we have Shiv Sena and Congress on our side. Of six assembly seats, three are with Shiv Sena, two are with BJP and one is with Congress. Moreover, Malik has influence in Chandivali and Kalina constituencies that were won by Shiv Sena in the last assembly polls,” explained a NCP leader.

NCP supremo tried to downplay the remarks made by Raut. “The discussion on seat sharing is yet to start. Sanjay Raut has the right to voice his party’s stand and the same rule applies to all the leaders from their respective parties. We will sit together and make a unanimous decision.”

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole also avoided verbal duel and that no one should make any statement which will create confusion among MVA partners. “It will be resolved soon by a joint committee of all the three parties. Three members that will represent Congress will be decided in a party meeting to be held on May 21,” Patole said, adding, “The decision on sharing of seats will be taken on merits.”