Maharashtra elections: Congress seeks distribution of seats on basis of Lok Sabha poll results

Seat-sharing talks in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections have hit a hurdle with Congress leaders insisting that the constituencies be distributed based on the parties’ success rate in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, people aware of the details said.

The alliance primarily consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Two senior Congress leaders said the “seat equation” between the three allies has changed after the Lok Sabha elections, where the party secured 13 of the 17 seats it contested. The NCP(SP), on the other hand, won eight of the 10 seats it contested and the Sena (UBT) won nine of 21 seats.

“After the Lok Sabha elections, there is an underlying tussle between the Congress and the Sena(UBT) on which party should get the largest share of seats (for the assembly elections). Our strike rate and tally is the best among the three allies,” one of the Congress leaders cited above said, seeking anonymity.

The distribution of seats assumes importance in an alliance as it can have a bearing on the decision on the chief ministerial position in an alliance. There are 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly and the elections are due for November.

The second leader cited above said the three allies are discussing specific seats for distribution and focusing on the prospect of each party in those seats based on key factors.

For the Congress, the second leader said, 115-120 seats would be an acceptable formula. “It is clear from the Lok Sabha elections that the Sena (UBT)’s domination in Maharashtra has weakened. The Sena (UBT) functionaries cannot try to claim all the 56 seats it won in 2019 as a majority of the MLAs have defected to the Shiv Sena,” the leader said, also seeking anonymity.

There was no immediate reaction from Sena (UBT) but earlier, party MP Sanjay Raut said: “In some seats, there are claims and counter-claims. But we are hopeful that the formula for seat-sharing will be decided before Dussehra.”

In 2019, the undivided Shiv Sena won 56 seats, the Congress 44 and the undivided NCP 54.

The first Congress leader said the allies are also yet to decide on 23 seats that the party lost by a close margin in the 2019 assembly elections. “The party has told its allies that it must get a lion’s share of these 23 seats but the NCP(SP) and Sena (UBT) are also trying to seek some of them,” the leader said.

People aware of the details said top leaders of the three parties have stayed away from discussions and that state Congress chief Nana Patole, Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and NCP(SP)’s state president Jayant Patil are the main negotiators.

Last week, NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad said the MVA is likely to finalise its seat-sharing deal before Dussehra.