Allies meet Sharad Pawar as seat-sharing consensus for polls eludes MVA

Amid a stalemate in the Maha Vikas Aghadi over the sharing of seats for the Maharashtra assembly polls, allies Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and held deliberations.

MVA sources on Sunday said a seat-sharing deal is likely to be sealed in a day or two after arriving at consensus.

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20. The process to file nominations will start on October 22.

The differences among MVA allies over certain seats had escalated into a war of words between state Congress chief Nana Patole and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, prompting Uddhav Thackeray to appeal to parties not to stretch matters to a breaking point.
 

Sharad Pawar on Sunday stayed put at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai where Congress leader Naseem Khan, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, Anil Parab, and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh called on him.

Senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra were in Delhi to attend the central election committee meeting, sources said.

"Talks among MVA allies are centred around 10 to 12 seats to decide which party can give a better candidate," they said.

Naseem Khan told PTI that discussions for building a consensus on the remaining 10 per cent of the seats were in progress.

"Since Sharad Pawar is the architect of MVA, we met him and held talks," Khan said.

Meanwhile, former MLC and JD (U) leader Kapil Patil joined the Congress in Delhi.

After the BJP declared its first list of 99 candidates on Sunday, NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto claimed the saffron party has fielded dynasts.

"Those who feel BJP doesn't believe in dynastic politics will be embarrassed after reading the list. They must understand that the BJP truly believes in dynastic politics," he added.

The BJP has fielded relatives of influential leaders in some segments including Sreejaya Chavan, daughter of former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Sreejaya Chavan will make her electoral debut from the home turf Bhokar, which had been represented by the senior Chavan, in Nanded district.

The BJP has also renominated Nitesh Rane, son of former Union minister and Konkan strongman Narayan Rane, from the Kankavli seat in Sindhudurg district, and Santosh Danve, sitting MLA from Bhokardan constituency in Jalna.

Santosh Danve is the son of former Union minister Raosaheb Danve.