Congress leader Naseem Khan who participated in the India TV Chunav Manch in Mumbai said that appeasement politics should not be done in Maharashtra Assembly elections. He also said that there is no confusion over seat sharing. However, final discussions are still ongoing. He added that consensus has been reached on 270 out of a total of 288 seats for the November 20 elections.
After days of stalemate, Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) announced contesting 85 seats each in Maharashtra assembly elections even as deliberations to seal a final pact are still underway. The three allies are discussing the sharing of the remaining 33 seats out of the total 288 among themselves and smaller parties.
The seat-sharing talks among opposition members dragged on for weeks due to a bitter dispute between Sena (UBT) and Congress on certain seats, especially in the Vidarbha region and Mumbai. The Congress is not keen to cede ground in Vidarbha owing to its strong showing in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
As the impasse on the sharing of seats continues, minor parties within the opposition bloc, including the Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Left parties, and the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), were growing increasingly restless. Notably, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP had demanded 12 seats from the MVA quota and declared candidates in five constituencies.
