MVA finalises 42 LS seats, talks with VBA still in limbo

Ambedkar on Sunday directed VBA leaders to not attend any meeting called by the MVA coalition henceforth and reiterated that his party was in a position to win six seats if it contested the elections on its own. Hours later, NCP chief Sharad Pawar invited Ambedkar for an MVA meeting called on March 6 to resolve the issue

MUMBAI: The Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) have finalised their seat-sharing talks for 42 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to be contested under the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) name. The three parties have also identified potential candidates for the seats.

MVA finalises 42 LS seats, talks with VBA still in limbo

However, the MVA’s talks with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) are still in limbo. Ambedkar on Sunday directed VBA leaders to not attend any meeting called by the MVA coalition henceforth and reiterated that his party was in a position to win six seats if it contested the elections on its own. Hours later, NCP chief Sharad Pawar invited Ambedkar for an MVA meeting called on March 6 to resolve the issue.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, for which the three parties have come to an agreement on 42 seats as of now. Of them, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is likely to get 17 seats, the Congress 15 and the NCP around 10. The MVA is keen that the VBA be part of the alliance; however, the VBA is sticking to its stand of doing well on its own. It recently published a list of 27 Lok Sabha constituencies that it claimed to have worked on for years and was in a position to win.

“We have finalised talks on 42 seats, and the issue of the remaining six seats will be cleared by the top leadership of the three parties in the coming days,” said a senior MVA leader.

In Mumbai, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is firm about contesting four seats and wants the Congress to take only two seats—Mumbai North and Mumbai North-Central. Insiders said that the Congress was demanding the Mumbai South-Central and Mumbai North-West constituencies. Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said that the seat-sharing talks were limited to the swapping of three seats, which would be resolved in no time.

There is also a consensus among the three parties that they will have to adjust their partners in their own quota, the MVA leader pointed out. This means the Shiv Sena (UBT) may have to give seats to the VBA from its quota. In an informal talk in Baramati, Pawar told reporters that they wanted VBA to be part of the alliance and could give the party four to five seats as an ally.

The VBA, which is looking for a significant number of seats as part of the seat-sharing pact, is continuing to put pressure on the MVA. “I have urged all VBA workers not to attend any programme or meeting called by the MVA, as we have yet to enter into a formal alliance with it,” Ambedkar told reporters on Sunday. “I can only say that if the VBA contests independently, we can win a minimum of six seats,” he said in response to a question. Later, he confirmed receiving an invitation from Pawar for an MVA meeting scheduled on March 6.

MVA leaders are hoping that the VBA issue is resolved in the meeting to be attended by Pawar, Thackeray and top leaders from the Maharashtra Congress such as Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat. “All three parties will speak to him (Prakash Ambedkar) and by March 6 the matter will be resolved,” said Wadettiwar.

Sharad Pawar also said that the MVA was hoping the Mahadev Jankar-led Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP) would be part of the alliance, and was open to leaving the Madha seat for it. The Maval seat has gone to the NCP quota, and the party is considering fielding Laxman Hake as its candidate.