MVA To Contest All 17 Maharashtra Council Seats As Mahayuti Faces Seat-Sharing Rift
MVA leaders held a meeting on seat-sharing for the Legislative Council elections at Tilak Bhavan, the Congress headquarters in Mumbai: Reports
MUMBAI: As the ruling Mahayuti alliance remains locked in a tug-of-war over seat-sharing for the 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has intensified preparations for the June 18 polls. On Wednesday, the MVA decided to contest all 17 seats, with the Congress likely to field the highest number of candidates, followed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). The decision sets the stage for a direct contest between the ruling alliance and the opposition bloc.
MVA leaders held a meeting on seat-sharing for the Legislative Council elections at Tilak Bhavan, the Congress headquarters in Mumbai. Among those present were Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal, NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde, NCP (SP) national working president Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Anil Parab, Ambadas Danve and Milind Narvekar.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Sapkal said preliminary discussions on seat distribution had taken place and a final decision would be made within the next two days.
“The MVA will contest all 17 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, including 16 seats to be elected from local self-government bodies and one by-election seat from Nagpur. Initial discussions on seat-sharing were held today in a cordial atmosphere, and another meeting will be held within the next two days to finalise a consensus-based formula,” he said.
Responding to questions about Congress corporators in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation allegedly being unreachable, Mr. Sapkal said it was unfortunate that horse-trading had surfaced in the MLC elections involving members of local bodies, including municipal corporations and councils.
“The BJP does not believe in democracy and has turned elections into a marketplace for horse-trading,” he alleged.
Mr. Sapkal also claimed that “money power” was being used to influence municipal corporators, with attempts allegedly being made to lure them through advance payments of Rs five lakh. “In such a situation, the MVA will jointly contest the Legislative Council elections to protect democracy and the Constitution,” he said.
The Congress leader further asserted that there was no discord or deadlock within the MVA over seat-sharing, describing the alliance discussions as healthy coordination. In a swipe at the BJP-led Mahayuti, he said the “triple-engine government” itself was witnessing internal friction over seat allocation.
A senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said each seat would be discussed at Friday’s meeting at the Y.B. Chavan Centre, adding that winnability would be the sole criterion for seat allocation among MVA constituents.
The nomination process for the 17 MLC seats is already underway. The seats are elected by members of municipal corporations and councils, zilla parishads, nagar panchayats and panchayat samitis.
The constituencies include Pune, Ahilyanagar, Thane, Jalgaon, Sangli-Satara, Nanded, Yavatmal, Solapur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Amravati, Dharashiv-Latur-Beed, Parbhani-Hingoli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna and Nagpur. The last date for filing nomination papers is June 1.