Sena (UBT) gets Maha share of 21 seats; Cong 17, NCP (SP) 10
We have set aside differences to defeat BJP: Thackeray Took one step back, Patole on discontent over seat-sharing
MUMBAI: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing formula for the Lok Sabha polls with the Shiv Sena (UBT) getting the major chunk of 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 and the NCP (SP) 10 seats.
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.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said there are no differences among the allies over any seat and the distribution arrangement for the 48 parliamentary seats in the state has been arrived at unanimously.
While Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray said the larger goal of the alliance was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), state Congress president Nana Patole said it has decided to be large-hearted to achieve this objective. Pawar, Thackeray and Patole announced the poll pact after weeks of hectic negotiations.
Addressing a press conference at ‘Shivalaya’, the Shiv Sena (UBT) office in south Mumbai, former state chief minister Thackeray said, “When victory against the saffron party is the larger goal, we have to set aside certain differences,” when asked about the Shiv Sena (UBT) refusing to give Sangli seat to the Congress.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said his party did not surrender but took a step back in the seat-sharing negotiations with its MVA alliance partners as the talks could not go on indefinitely. Patole’s statement came even as there was apparent disgruntlement in the state unit over Congress ceding seats such as Sangli and Bhiwandi. “We took a step back, we did not surrender,” he said. “The deal has been finalised after consultations with the party high command. We tried our best to get the seats where we had good prospects of winning. But the talks cannot be stretched too far as the election process has already begun,” Patole said.