New Delhi: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has almost struck the seat-sharing deal for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Sources said that Congress will contest 100 to 105 seats, while Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray will contest 96 to 100 seats. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar will contest on 80 to 85 seats, sources added.
Earlier, MVA held a key meeting which was attended by senior leaders from both sides. The Congress and Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena were unable to reach a consensus on a few seats in Mumbai, Nashik and Vidarbha. They looked to veteran leader Sharad Pawar, the chief of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), to break the deadlock for them.
After he intervened, the Congress leaders of the state and the Shiv Sena UBT came back on the table, according to reports.
On Tuesday morning, there was a flurry of activity and rounds of meetings — one of the most important being between Sharad Pawar and Balasaheb Thorat of Congress. A series of meetings were held between the Sena UBT and the Congress.
On Monday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had pointed out that the MVA had reached a consensus on 210 out of 288 assembly seats, but Nana Patole of Congress claimed the figure was 96. Patole had been bargaining for 125 seats while the Sena (UBT) wanted 100 seats each for it and the Congress, and 88 for Sharad Pawar’s party.
A CEC meeting regarding the Maharashtra assembly elections was also held on Monday. The elections to 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be conducted on November 20. Counting of votes will be done on November 23. The term of the current assembly ends on November 26.
