Mumbai: As the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nears a consensus on a seat-sharing formula for the upcoming polls, it faces internal disagreements in Mumbai and the Vidarbha region. The conflict in these areas primarily involves the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), according to insiders.
In Mumbai, an impasse exists over at least eight seats, including Byculla, Vandre East, Versova, Jogeshwari East, Ghatkopar East, Sion-Koliwada, Dharavi and Kurla.
The Vidarbha issue centres on six seats in Nagpur, where Congress aims to contest all seats, citing its stronger position compared to its allies. However, Shiv Sena (UBT) has staked a claim on two seats — Nagpur South and Nagpur East — leading to a stalemate. The party argues that it conceded Ramtek and Amravati seats to Congress during the Lok Sabha elections, making it fair for Congress to allow them to contest on a few seats of their choice, insiders revealed.
Currently, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis represents Nagpur South, while three-term BJP MLA Krishna Khopde holds the Nagpur East seat. In 2019, Congress contested all six seats in Nagpur district, winning two — Nagpur West and Nagpur North. The party had an alliance with the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at the time.
Interestingly, the undivided Shiv Sena, which contested the 2019 assembly polls in alliance with BJP, did not contest any of the six seats as the district had become a BJP stronghold. "But now they want to contest because they see the change in the people's mood and increase their tally by contesting on the seats where Congress is in a better situation," remarked an MVA insider.
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, the undivided Shiv Sena, which contested the 2019 assembly polls in alliance with BJP, did not contest any of the six seats as the district had become a BJP stronghold. "But now they want to contest because they see the change in the people's mood and increase their tally by contesting on the seats where Congress is in a better situation," remarked an MVA insider.
{{/usCountry}}In Mumbai, the Samajwadi Party is likely to retain one seat currently represented by its state president Abu Asim Azmi. The party has also claimed Anushakti Nagar, which the NCP (Sharad Pawar) is unwilling to concede. The Samajwadi Party is considering fielding Fahad Ahmad from the seat, currently represented by NCP's Nawab Malik. Malik has decided to field his daughter Sana Shaikh from the constituency.
The MVA partners are set to continue their discussions for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
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