Maharashtra polls: MVA's seat-sharing talks have started, says Congress leader

The alliance partners will contest the elections ‘unitedly,’ said Ramesh Chennithala, the Congress party's Maharashtra in-charge.

The three chief constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance have started preliminary seat-sharing talks for the Maharashtra assembly polls, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said on Saturday.

AICC General Secretary in charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala (right) with Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole during party workers meeting, in Mumbai, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)

The Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) are the main parties in Maharashtra's opposition alliance. Chennithala is the state in-charge of the grand old party.

“Preliminary seat-sharing talks have commenced and we will contest elections unitedly,” he told reporters after holding a meeting in Latur with the party's office-bearers from the Latur, Beed, and Dharashiv districts.

The western state, which will elect its next government in October, has a 288-member assembly. In the general elections, held earlier this year, the MVA won 30 of Maharashtra's 48 parliamentary seats (Congress-13, Sena (UBT)-9, NCP (SP)-8).

Meanwhile, at the same Latur programme, Nana Patole, who heads the Congress in Maharashtra, was asked about the coalition's chief ministerial face.

“The chief minister will be declared after the results, after consulting all the elected legislators. Saving the state's self-respect is our priority,” Patole responded.

Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray held the post during the MVA's November 2019-June 2022 tenure. He was succeeded by Eknath Shinde, the current CM, the former's now one-time aide whose rebellion triggered the Aghadi government's collapse. Shinde also split the party; the Election Commission recognises his faction as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena, while the Thackeray group functions as Shiv Sena (UBT).

The Shinde-led Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ajit Pawar, who heads the ‘real’ NCP, form the ruling Mahayuti coalition of the state. They hold 17 of Maharashtra 48 Lok Sabha seats.

(With PTI inputs)