21 March,2024 03:32 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Nana Patole/ PTI
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole announced on Thursday that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will shortly release its seat-sharing formula and candidate list for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The MVA opposition alliance, which includes the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, the Congress, and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar, intends to fight the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, reported PTI.
According to the report, speaking to the media following a meeting of MVA leaders at Sharad Pawar's home, Patole revealed that the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) in Delhi has already chosen 12 candidates for the elections.
"We are discussing with our allies and will announce the list in a day or two," he said.
Patole and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat, who had attended their party's CEC conference in Delhi, returned to Mumbai for the MVA meeting, the PTI report added.
Jayant Patil, state president of the NCP (SP), and party leader Jitendra Awhad attended the meeting at Pawar's residence.
Meanwhile, Prakash Ambedkar, head of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), expressed dissatisfaction with the Shiv Sena and the NCP (SP)'s unfair treatment of his party. He granted the Congress seven Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra as a gesture of goodwill and a potential alliance, the report added. Prakash Ambedkar, Dr BR Ambedkar's grandson, had previously announced his candidature for the Lok Sabha from Akola as a VBA nominee.
The VBA has expressed interest in forming a coalition with MVA's three allies for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The elections for Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats will be held in five phases, with votes counting on June 4.
Devendra Fadnavis takes a job at MVA
Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, made fun of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Thursday for taking too long to decide on seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Fadnavis said that the BJP concluded 80 per cent of the choices in a single meeting, whereas the MVA leaders had been meeting for more than two months without reaching a consensus, according to another ANI report.
"They (Maha Vikas Aghadi) have been having meetings for two and a half months but they haven't reached a decision yet. We made 80 per cent of the decisions in just one meeting. We will decide the remaining 20 per cent in the second meeting," Fadnavis told the news agency.
