The Maha Vikas Aghadi on Saturday (August 24) brainstormed on the seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly Elections. Several leaders of the MVA constituent Congress, NCP SP and Shiv Sena UBT participated in the key meet that lasted approximately an hour and a half at Trident Hotel in Mumbai. According to sources, discussions were held on the seat-sharing on 36 Assembly seats in Mumbai.
Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad, Bhai Jagtap, and Aslam Shaikh were present at the meeting, along with Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai from Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, and Jitendra Awhad and Mumbai NCP SP President Jadhav.
What discussions were held at the meeting?
The primary discussion was that since UBT Shiv Sena is strong in Mumbai, it should contest more seats. Both the NCP and UBT agreed on this point, according to sources.
“Out of the 36 assembly seats in Mumbai, Uddhav's Shiv Sena wants to contest around 20 to 22 seats, Congress wants 15 to 18 seats, and Sharad Pawar's NCP is aiming for 4 to 5 seats,” sources said.
Shiv Sena UBT has demanded that the seats won by a particular party in the previous election should remain with that party. In 2019, the undivided Shiv Sena had won 14 seats in the city. Now, Uddhav's faction has 8 MLAs, and Shinde's faction has 6 in Mumbai. Congress won 4, NCP 1, and SP 1 seat in 2019 Assembly Elections.
Shiv Sena UBT will play role of elder brother in Mumbai: NCP SP
After the meeting, MVA's Jitendra Awhad said that Uddhav's Shiv Sena has a stronghold in Mumbai, so naturally, they will play the role of the elder brother. “The number of seats Sharad Pawar's NCP will contest will be decided later,” he said.
“Some seats will be exchanged within the MVA in Mumbai. For example, the Chandivali seat, which Shiv Sena had won, will be given to Congress for Naseem Khan, as MLA Dilip Lande has joined the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. Similarly, the Bandra East seat, which Congress won with MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui, might be given to UBT Shiv Sena, as Siddiqui could contest from the Ajit faction of NCP after leaving the party,” sources said.
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