Maharashtra Assembly Elections: MVA finalises seat sharing plan for 260 seats; hurdles remain for 25-30 others

The tri-party Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra has reached a seat sharing agreement for 260 constituencies ahead of polls. Leading members of the Opposition group indicated on Friday that seat sharing talks had been concluded after an intense meeting held in Mumbai. The three parties however face a stalemate over 25-30 seats (out of 288) in the state.

According to reports the Congress has so far secured around 110 to 115 seats for itself --- with its strong perfomance at the recent Lok Sabha elections cited as a justification. The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena is likely to field candidates for 83 to 86 constituencies while the NCP (SP) contests 72 to 75 seats.

Assembly elections in Maharashtra are set to be held in a single phase on November 20 with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.

“There are 200 seats on which the decision has been taken and some seats on which we have been unable to take a decision. We don't have too much time at hand and I feel that Congress leaders here are unable to take decisions as they have to keep sending lists to Delhi for approval and then the discussion happens. But the time for that has passed. We want this decision to be taken at the earliest,” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut told the media earlier on Friday.

“There are about 48 seats in the Shiv Sena (UBT) list and we have given up our claim on 18 of them. There are 25 to 30 seats where there is a dispute. We have informed our party high command about it, and we will abide by whatever decision our leadership takes on this,” added Congress leader Nana Patole.

(With inputs from agencies)