The ongoing discord within Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition persists as numerous Congress leaders express dissatisfaction with the allocation of three Lok Sabha seats to allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).
In the seat-sharing agreement, Shiv Sena (UBT) secured 21 seats, Congress received 17, and NCP (SP) was allocated 10. Despite the Maharashtra Congress asserting its claim over the Sangli, Bhiwandi, and Mumbai South Central seats, the alliance partners remained steadfast in their stance. Mumbai Congress president and MLA Varsha Gaikwad had expressed a strong desire to contest from Mumbai South Central, a constituency previously won by her late father Eknath Gaikwad in 2009 against Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi. However, Uddhav Thackeray did not concede and instead nominated the party’s Rajya Sabha member Anil Desai for the seat.
Similarly, former Maharashtra Congress president Vasant Dada Patil’s grandson Vishal Patil sought to contest from Sangli, but Shiv Sena (UBT) rejected the request and fielded Chandrahar Patil instead. Bhiwandi, another contested seat, was surrendered by Congress to its ally, Sharad Pawar-led NCP. This decision has prompted threats of resignations from local Congress leaders holding party positions.
With Congress securing 17 seats in the arrangement, while Uddhav’s Shiv Sena clinches 21 and NCP (SP) holds 10, tensions persist as the state Congress’s claims over certain constituencies were not accommodated by the alliance.
