Former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan meets Mallikarjun Kharge, says "no discussion on seat sharing for 2024 LS polls"

Pic/Twitter@AshokChavanINC

Ahead of the 2024 general elections, Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter's residence in New Delhi.

The meeting between the two leaders extended for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. However, Chavan while talking to the reporters said that there were no discussions regarding the allocation of seats among the parties within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, reported news agency ANI.

"Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats and the position of the Congress party on all these seats was discussed. However, there has been no discussion on which party will contest how many seats in the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) as all the parties will discuss it together and later, it will be decided by Congress President," Ashok Chavan said.

Explaining the reason for the meeting extending more than two hours, Ashok Chavan said that the grand old party President has been in charge of Maharashtra in the past, so he has a very deep interest and comprehensive understanding of Maharashtra's politics. Later, taking to Twitter, the Congress senior leader said, "Lok Sabha Elections 2024, current political situation in the state and current important public issues were discussed on this occasion".

The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress has not decided on the seat-sharing formula till now. Seat-sharing is one of the biggest challenges facing the MVA while preparing for the 2024 polls, as this is the first time the three parties have come together to fight a grand electoral battle, reported ANI.

However, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, ahead of a two-day review meeting of his party of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats said that the seat-sharing talks in the Maha Vikas Aghadi will be smooth since the primary aim was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On the other hand, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said that the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will jointly contest all upcoming elections including Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, and local body elections in the State.

Shinde and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had yesterday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi to discuss several issues related to the State. "We've decided that Shiv Sena and BJP will jointly contest all upcoming elections including Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, and local body elections," tweeted Shinde today.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been guided for various projects in the state. We took this appointment as we always get guidance from Shah. Our alliance for the development of Maharashtra is strong and in the last 11 months, we have taken various development decisions and implemented them, clearing stalled projects," Shinde's tweet further read.

"In the future, we will contest elections together and win with a majority to make Maharashtra the number one state in the country in all fields, to continue the race of development," he added. In the 2019 elections, Sena had won 18 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and one seat from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

(With inputs from ANI)