The Congress announced its third list of 16 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections on Saturday. This follows the release of its first list, which included 48 candidates, and a second list of 23 candidates earlier. With this latest announcement, Congress has now revealed a total of 87 candidates.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for 255 constituencies, allocating 85 seats each to Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction). The distribution of the remaining 23 seats will be determined based on the candidate lists of each party, it had said.
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Congress's third list for Maharashtra assembly elections
On the other hand, among the three partners in the Mahayuti alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Ajit Pawar’s NCP have each released two candidate lists, while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has issued one list thus far.
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{{/usCountry}}ALSO READ- Maharashtra elections: BJP releases second list of 22 candidates
{{/usCountry}}As the Maharashtra Assembly elections draw near, both the Mahayuti alliance and the opposition MVA are ramping up discussions to finalise their seat-sharing agreements.
Congress has asserted that there are no disagreements within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
However, the Samajwadi Party, a significant ally of Congress in the INDIA bloc, has expressed dissatisfaction. SP leader Abu Azmi said, "We spoke to Sharad Pawar yesterday. He indicated that a decision would be made today, but I have not received any communication. The seats I requested are being announced. I fear we may face betrayal as in the previous two terms... It appears they are reluctant to allocate seats to the Samajwadi Party.
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"I do not wish for the MVA to fracture and for votes to be split... However, if our concerns are ignored, we may have no choice but to contest independently... I have consulted with Akhilesh Yadav, who has granted me full authority. We are not like Congress, where even senior leaders must seek permission from Delhi for every decision, causing delays... Time is running short with only two days remaining. I will make my decision within this timeframe," he added.
The elections for the state’s 288-seat assembly are scheduled for November 20, with the counting of votes set for November 23.