Maharashtra assembly election: MVA fails to resolve dispute on 30-plus seats

MVA alliance leaders met for 10 hours but failed to resolve disputes over 30 seats, with major conflicts between Congress and NCP (SP)

MUMBAI: The opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has failed to arrive at a consensus on more than 30 disputed seats despite a 10-hour marathon meeting between the leaders of its three constituents on Saturday. The discord is bigger with regard to the seat-sharing between the Congress and the NCP (SP) rather than the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), revealed MVA insiders.

On Saturday, the seat-sharing parleys continued till 1.30 am at a five-star hotel in Mumbai. (File) (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

There are around 18 seats where there is a disagreement between the Congress and NCP (SP) while in 12 seats the conflict is between the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). Among these seats are Armori, Ramtek, Kamthi, Nagpur South, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Bhandara, Chimur, Aheri, Warora, Shrigonda, Nashik Central, Nashik West, Shirol, Byculla, Kurla, Versova, Vile Parle, Mulund, Vandre East, Anushakti Nagar, and Ghatkopar West.

In Karjat, Sawantwadi and Kurla, the dispute is between the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). There are also a few seats where all three parties have staked a claim, and none are willing to compromise.

On Saturday, the seat-sharing parleys continued till 1.30 am at a five-star hotel in Mumbai. The idea was to resolve the disputes, as the Congress’ screening and central election committee (CEC) were scheduled for Sunday. However, both the meetings were postponed to Monday.

Congress insiders said that Sena (UBT) leaders were claiming seats that the Congress was sure of winning. “The situation is similar to the Lok Sabha polls when the Sena (UBT) was adamant about contesting Sangli despite having no strong local leadership and ground,” said a senior Congress leader. “In these elections, there are several seats such as Ramtek, Kamthi and Nagpur South where they have nothing but are hell-bent on contesting.”

The Shiv Sena (UBT), on the other hand, claimed that the seat-sharing talks hit a roadblock after the Congress claimed the Nashik West seat. The party wants to field Sudhakar Badgujar, who heads Nashik district and is a close aide of MP Sanjay Raut. “Badgujar remained loyal to the party even after the Mahayuti government initiated action against him in a corruption case,” said a Sena (UBT) insider. “Considering this, the party finalised his name for Nashik West but the Congress claimed the seat. It irked Sena leaders, who expressed their anger.”

On Sunday afternoon, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray called a meeting of party leaders to discuss the seat-sharing issue as well as poll preparations. Later, Aaditya Thackeray and other leaders met NCP founder Sharad Pawar, requesting him to approach the Congress leadership to resolve the deadlock.

The Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut said that the health of the MVA coalition was fine. “But sometimes, it also needs proper check-ups to determine the illness,” he said, clearly hinting that all was not well. Raut also emphasised that maintaining unity in the alliance was the responsibility of all three partners.

NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh said the MVA was thinking of announcing a few seats on Monday. “We had a meeting that went on till late Saturday night,” he told reporters. “We have cleared several seats but there are a few on which discussions will continue in the next meeting. We are also planning to declare a few seats on Monday.”

On Friday, there was a showdown between state Congress chief Nana Patole and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, after which senior leaders of the two parties stepped in. Ramesh Chennithala, Congress leader in charge of the state polls, met Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence in Mumbai on Saturday morning. Although Chennithala claimed he had met Thackeray to enquire about his health after his recent surgery, the meeting was a signal to the other leaders that consensus should be the top priority.

(With inputs from Saurabha Kulshreshtha)