- January 10, 2024
Congress wants Uddhav Thackeray to scale back his 23-seat claim, seeks 26 for itself | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Congress is learnt to have contested Shiv Sena (UBT)’s claim to 23 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and called it an unrealistic ask in light of the vertical split in the party, a charge that was countered by Sena leaders who asserted that the party’s vote bank remained intact.
NCP, the third pole in the anti-BJP grouping, did not voice any specific demand in the meeting other than to ask for the inclusion of Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi in the INDIA bloc.
Hard negotiations are likely in the next round of seat-sharing dialogues where the INDIA partners are expected to climb down from their maximalist positions. Eyeing 26 seats, Congress is positioning itself as the most important player in the alliance since it remains intact, unlike its Maharashtra allies Sena (UBT) and NCP.
NCP: Seats to be allocated on basis of winnability
While Sena’s initial position appears to be a bargaining chip, it will be interesting to see to what extent it will go by way of offering concessions, since it will want to guard against ceding ground in the Hindutva space to the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena as well as BJP.
NCP will be compelled to come up with a similar contingency plan keeping in mind the aggressive bids that Ajit Pawar has been making on the party’s Maratha-dominated strongholds.
The preliminary talks for seat-sharing held at National Alliance Committee convenor Mukul Wasnik’s residence also saw the all parties underscore the necessity of projecting a picture of unity, with parties also emphasising the need to guard against statements or actions — especially in the wake of the Ram temple consecration ceremony — that the BJP could use against the INDIA bloc.
In the deliberations, Congress was represented by Ashok Gehlot, Salman Khurshid, Mohan Prakash, Maharashtra Congress leaders Nana Patole, Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat; NCP was represented by Jitendra Awhad and Shiv Sena (UBT) by Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut.
“The MVA, VBA, communists and peasants and workers party will take on the communal forces together in Maharashtra. It is true that Shiv Sena wants to contest on more seats and talks are on between Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray on that,” Awhad said, adding that seats will eventually be divided on the basis of winnability.
The next round of the seatsharing meeting, sources said, is likely between Sonia Gandhi, Pawar and Thackeray, around January 14-15.
NCP, the third pole in the anti-BJP grouping, did not voice any specific demand in the meeting other than to ask for the inclusion of Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi in the INDIA bloc.
Hard negotiations are likely in the next round of seat-sharing dialogues where the INDIA partners are expected to climb down from their maximalist positions. Eyeing 26 seats, Congress is positioning itself as the most important player in the alliance since it remains intact, unlike its Maharashtra allies Sena (UBT) and NCP.
NCP: Seats to be allocated on basis of winnability
While Sena’s initial position appears to be a bargaining chip, it will be interesting to see to what extent it will go by way of offering concessions, since it will want to guard against ceding ground in the Hindutva space to the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena as well as BJP.
NCP will be compelled to come up with a similar contingency plan keeping in mind the aggressive bids that Ajit Pawar has been making on the party’s Maratha-dominated strongholds.
The preliminary talks for seat-sharing held at National Alliance Committee convenor Mukul Wasnik’s residence also saw the all parties underscore the necessity of projecting a picture of unity, with parties also emphasising the need to guard against statements or actions — especially in the wake of the Ram temple consecration ceremony — that the BJP could use against the INDIA bloc.
In the deliberations, Congress was represented by Ashok Gehlot, Salman Khurshid, Mohan Prakash, Maharashtra Congress leaders Nana Patole, Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat; NCP was represented by Jitendra Awhad and Shiv Sena (UBT) by Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut.
“The MVA, VBA, communists and peasants and workers party will take on the communal forces together in Maharashtra. It is true that Shiv Sena wants to contest on more seats and talks are on between Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray on that,” Awhad said, adding that seats will eventually be divided on the basis of winnability.
The next round of the seatsharing meeting, sources said, is likely between Sonia Gandhi, Pawar and Thackeray, around January 14-15.
