Maharashtra polls: Sanjay Raut, Nana Patole trade barbs over seat-sharing

Mumbai's Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) clash over seat-sharing for assembly polls, with tensions over Vidarbha allocation. Raut and Patole exchange barbs

Mumbai: Differences between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), two of the three main parties in the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, over seat-sharing for the upcoming assembly polls spilled out in the open on Friday, with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and state Congress president Nana Patole trading barbs. The differences are mainly over the allocation of seats in the Vidarbha region. Congress in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala is likely to visit Matoshree on Saturday to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to resolve the matter.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole. (ANI file photo)

During the talks on seat-sharing held on Friday, Shiv Sena (UBT) insisted on 10 seats in the Vidarbha region in addition to some seats in Ramtek and Nagpur, said sources. But Patole denied their claim and refused to accept the demand, saying Congress had better prospects of winning from those seats, the sources added.

Following the meeting, Raut addressed the media and said that too much fighting over some seats was not good. He also alleged that the state Congress leadership was incapable of making decisions on seat-sharing.

“Seat sharing talks in MVA needs to finalised soon. But Congress leaders in the state are not capable and consult leaders in Delhi for everything. So I have spoken with the Congress leadership in Delhi including KC Venugopal to expedite the seat sharing process. I will be speaking to the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, as well,” said Raut.

Raut also taunted Patole without naming him, saying Vidarbha was not anyone’s personal property. “During Lok Sabha elections, we gave two of our traditional seats in Vidarbha, Ramtek and Amaravati, to the Congress. So it is but obvious that during the assembly polls, we expect some seats there,” said Raut.

After Raut’s tirade exposed fault lines in the MVA, Patole slammed the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP in the presence of other MVA leaders.

“The three main parties in MVA have their own leadership. In the Congress, we report to our national president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi. NCP (SP) leaders report to Sharad Pawar while Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders report to Uddhav Thackeray. If Raut is not following Thackeray’s orders, it’s their problem,” Patole told reporters while addressing a press conference regarding irregularities in the voters’ list.

But Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai and NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad, who were both present on the dais, brushed aside the differences and clarified that the press conference was limited to the issue of irregularities in the voter’s list.

Later, Patole too calmed down, saying, “I don’t understand what Raut wants to say. So, it’s not good to react on it.”