The Congress Party has rejected the Shiv Sena’s (UBT) demand for 23 seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The development came after Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi partners Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP met to talk about seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections.
Despite the majority of its members supporting CM Eknath Shinde’s faction, the UBT Sena reportedly demanded 23 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. According to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction faces an enormous obstacle because it lacks sufficient candidates due to the party’s division.
Following the splits in the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Congress representatives at the meeting stated unequivocally that the grand old party seems to be the only one with an established vote share in the state.
Former Chief Minister and senior Maharashtra Congress leader Ashok Chavan stated that the parties needed to adjust. “While every party desires a larger share of seats, the demand for 23 seats by the Shiv Sena was excessive given the current circumstances,” he said.
According to Sanjay Nirupam, leaders ought to prevent conflicts over winning seats. “The Shiv Sena may demand 23 seats, but what will they do with them? The Shiv Sena’s leaders have left, resulting in a crisis. Shiv Sena faces a candidate shortage,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut stated last week that he and party leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray met with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as well as AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, before the recent Opposition bloc I.N.D.I Alliance meeting.
Raut did not specify how many seats the Congress and NCP would contest. The Shiv Sena was part of the BJP-led NDA alliance in 2019. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is now a member of the MVA, along with the Congress and the NCP.
Eknath Shinde and 40 other Shiv Sena MLAs ‘revolted’ against the Shiv Sena leadership in June 2022, resulting in a party split and the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Shinde then joined forces with the BJP to form the state government.