Maharashtra Assembly polls: MVA initiates seat-sharing talks for elections; Shiv Sena eyes 20 seats, says report

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has begun talks on a potential seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming state assembly elections, starting with Mumbai.

In a meeting on Saturday, the Shiv Sena (UBT) requested 20 seats, Congress asked for 15 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) sought seven seats. The parties are anticipated to finalize the seat-sharing agreement in a meeting scheduled for next week, Hindustan Times reported.

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In the 2019 assembly polls, the three parties won 20 of the 36 seats in Mumbai, so the discussion will be about sharing the remaining 16 seats. The undivided Shiv Sena won 14 seats, the Congress could win four, and the undivided NCP and Samajwadi Party won one seat each.

After the split in the Shiv Sena and NCP over the last two years, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Sena has the support of eight MLAs. In contrast, NCP-SP has none as Nawab Malik, elected from Anushakti Nagar, sided with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Hindustan Times reported, citing MVA insiders, that the Shiv Sena (UBT) is firm on contesting 20 seats. “The party believes that we are in a much better position than our allies and, thus, should get the majority of the 36 assembly seats in the city,” said a senior Thackeray faction leader.

“Shiv Sena is looking to contest on all 14 seats [it won in 2019] except Chandivali, which it is ready to exchange with Vandre East from Congress,” MVA insider told HT.

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Earlier, On being asked about MVA's CM face for Maharashtra Assembly elections, NCP-SCP leader Sharad Pawar said, "As far as my party is concerned, no one from my party is interested. We are not projecting anyone (as the CM face). We just want change in the government here as we want to give good governance to the state. So, who will or will not be the CM is not a question for me. It will not be me at least."

Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar said that the expiry date of Maha Vikas Aghadi is near and will break on seat sharing in the upcoming Assembly elections, ANI reported.

Shelar also mentioned that the MVA will break after the elections. All three parties (Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP-SCP) are present for the CM post.

He said, “The expiry date of Maha Vikas Aghadi is near. Most likely, this will break on the issue of seat sharing, and if somehow they sustain it through seat sharing, it's a sure thing that this will break immediately after the elections as all three parties are there for the CM post.”

The report said that Thackeray is contemplating fielding Varun Sardesai, the secretary of Yuva Sena and Thackeray’s nephew, from Vandre East. This seat was previously won by Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique, who is expected to join the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Congress leaders have expressed optimism about the potential swap, noting that the party narrowly lost the Chandivali seat by just 409 votes, where Arif Naseem Khan was the candidate.

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“Naseem Khan represented the seat twice before 2019 and is keen to contest it again,” said a party leader from Mumbai.

“We have discussed the potential criteria for the seat-sharing formula today. It is basically who won the seat how many times and the potential of the candidate,” said a senior MVA leader, adding, “All the three parties want the seats that they have won in the past polls.”

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are due this year. The Election Commission is yet to announce the poll dates.

(With inputs from agencies)