The Congress gave up its claim on the contentious Sangli and Bhiwandi seats, which will now be contested by the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP), respectively
While the Sena (UBT) said the goal of the alliance was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress said it has decided to be "large-hearted" to achieve this objective
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress president Nana Patole announced the poll pact for the 48 parliamentary seats in the state after weeks of hectic negotiations
Addressing a press conference at 'Shivalaya', the Shiv Sena (UBT) office in south Mumbai, party head and former state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said the seat-sharing deal has been reached and in an alliance, winning is important and defeating the BJP is the goal
"When victory against the BJP is the larger goal, we have to set aside certain differences," he said when asked about the Shiv Sena (UBT) refusing to give Sangli seat to the Congress
Thackeray said there was a strange coincidence of "surya grahan" (solar eclipse), "amavasya" (new moon) and the BJP rally on the same day (Monday)
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