Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday that 99 percent of work had been completed over the seat-sharing arrangement between the Maha Vikas Aghadi and that leaders of the three alliance parties are likely to announce the formula later in the day.
The Shiv Sena politician, while speaking with reporters, also hinted his party may contest 100 seats. Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are scheduled on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23. Top leaders of the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance met here late Tuesday night with indications that the seat-sharing arrangement for the assembly elections has been finalised. The MVA comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP).
After the talks, especially between Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, went into a tailedspinn, senior state Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat first met NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday and then Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. Later, Thorat and other leaders of the MVA again sat together for a several-hours meeting at a hotel here. Leaders of the three parties are locked in hectic seat-sharing deliberations that continued till late Tuesday night.
Raut said on Wednesday: "Ninety nine per cent work on seat-sharing has been completed. By today evening, leaders of the three parties will hold a press conference." "Shiv Sena (referring to his faction led by Uddhav Thackeray) is an experienced player, so it has to hit a century. There are expectations of people that Sena should hit a century in seats and overall victory," he said.
Taking a dig at the Shiv Sena (led by CM Eknath Shinde), BJP, and MNS which have released their first lists of candidates, Raut said the MVA has to form government which is why the allies took time. Each assembly segment was being deliberated upon, the Rajya Sabha member added.".
He said even if the MVA has not released its list, the three parties have already given A and B forms to their candidates. The A and B forms are important documents, which denote a certain candidate has been approved by a political party and should be allotted the election symbol of that party.
Asked if his party will field a candidate from Mahim against MNS president Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray, Raut said the Sena was formed in the Mahim-Dadar belt and it cannot be the case that it will not field a candidate there.
Raut also asserted that Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray will win from Worli seat with a bigger margin this time. Amit Thackeray, son of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, will make his electoral debut from the Mahim assembly seat in central Mumbai, as the MNS announced its list of candidates for the Maharashtra elections. Amit will be the third member of the extended Thackeray family to contest an election. His father Raj Thackeray has never contested any poll. Amit's cousin Aaditya Thackeray—son of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray—made his debut by winning from the neighbouring Worli seat in the 2019 assembly polls. Uddhav Thackeray himself was elected to the legislative council in 2020 after he became Maharashtra chief minister.
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