MVA agrees on 210 seats, says Raut; Cong claims 96

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi had arrived on a consensus on 210 of the 288 Maharashtra assembly seats, while the state's Congress chief Nana Patole claimed discussions had been completed on his party's 96 seats.

Both, however, were united in claiming the Bharatiya Janata Party was spreading misinformation in the run-up to the polls, which are to be held in a single phase on November 20. The results will be declared on November 23.

The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Congress are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi along with Sharad Pawar's NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar. 

The aim was to ensure the defeat of forces looting Maharashtra, Raut said in a swipe at the ruling alliance comprising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

"We have arrived at a consensus on 210 seats. It is a significant achievement. We aim to contest polls as a joint force, and we will defeat the forces looting Maharashtra," said Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP and key strategist for the Shiv Sena-UBT.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Patole asserted there are no disagreements within the MVA, adding that discussions on seat-sharing were underway and would conclude soon.

"So far, discussions on 96 seats for Congress have been completed. Tomorrow, further talks will be held with Nationalist Congress Party-SP president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. After these discussions, we will try to announce the list of candidates tomorrow itself," he said.

Patole and other state leaders of the Congress are in Delhi to finalise seats and candidates for the assembly polls.

Raut's comments came amid a flurry of news channel reports that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party may break away from the MVA and contest all 288 seats on its own.

The past few days have seen hectic parleys among the three main opposition parties to finalise a seat-sharing deal, with speculation doing the rounds of the Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT not being on the same page.

The statement from Raut also comes amid speculation that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a phone conversation with him, hinting at the Shiv Sena-UBT and BJP, which were allies for decades before going their separate ways in 2019, getting back together.

The two parties broke off their alliance after the 2019 assembly polls. At the time, the undivided Shiv Sena accused the BJP of breaking a promise to share the chief ministerial tenure. The BJP has routinely denied any such agreement.

Asked about the phone conversation, Raut said, "The BJP is feeding false news. We know who is doing it. The party fears loss in the assembly polls and spreads misinformation."

Raut said the BJP engineered a split in the Shiv Sena (in June 2022), brought down Thackeray's MVA government and also ensured the party name and symbol went to the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde.

"The worst the BJP did was to give the reins of the government to traitors (a term the Uddhav group uses to describe Shinde and rebel MLAs), who have been looting the state for the past couple of years. We (Uddhav faction) have had maximum conflicts with the BJP," Raut further said, underlining the impossibility of a rapprochement.

Raut emphasised such misinformation has nothing to do with seat-sharing discussions in the MVA.

When asked about some Congress leaders leaking information to the media about the Shiv Sena (UBT), Raut said he was "surprised a Congress leader can make such a comment."

"We will not assist the BJP, which seeks to undermine the Constitution and insult the pride of Maharashtra," Raut asserted.

Leaders of both the Congress and the Shiv Sena-UBT have at times acknowledged differences regarding certain seats but have always maintained the aim was to work unitedly to defeat the BJP.

"There is no truth to the news of Shiv Sena leaving the alliance. The BJP is spreading misinformation about opposition parties. The BJP will face a crushing defeat in the assembly elections. Fear of this defeat is prompting them to play such games. No such statements have been made by the Congress either. All our collective efforts are focused on bringing MVA to power in Maharashtra," Patole said.

Responding to a question, Patole said, "The BJP's love for Hindus is phoney. When Narendra Modi came to power, he claimed to be a 'vishwaguru'. However, in these 11 years, farmer suicides have increased, and most of them were Hindus."

Patole said many have ended their lives due to unemployment and most of these too were Hindus.

"It is no longer hidden that Hindus face injustice when the BJP is in power. BJP's Hindutva is only for political purposes," he claimed.

The term of the current assembly ends on November 26.