The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has organised a massive rally on Friday afternoon. This rally will be addressed by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) supremo Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole. Other Congress leaders will also address the rally, as per senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
Reiterating that the MVA alliance wants to contest the assembly elections together, Raut said that the three parties-- Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SCP)-- have no differences regarding seat sharing, common manifesto or any other issues.
The bigger question is whether the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will project Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Ministerial face for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra or not. The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief has been urging his MVA allies to declare him as the CM face for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Earlier this month, Thackeray was on a three-day visit to Delhi. Here, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister met Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
He also met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh. Before a spree of meetings in Delhi, Thackeray also met AICC Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala.
Moreover, Sanjay Raut had previously said there will be a Thackeray-2 government after the assembly elections are over. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also attacked the Congress and said that there were many leaders in the grand old party who were eyeing the CM post, including some former CMs.
He added that if the Congress has any CM face, then, they should declare it. Former CM and Congress veteran Prithviraj Chavan, on the other hand, said that traditionally in Maharashtra, whichever party in an alliance wins more seats get the CM chair.
Meanwhile, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM has made yet another offer to join the MVA bloc ahead of the assembly polls. Former MP and state chief of AIMIM Imtiaz Jaleel told The Indian Express: "We are making an open offer to MVA and INDIA bloc to take AIMIM into their fold... We want to contest Assembly elections as part of the MVA and INDIA bloc."
He said that the MVA will benefit immensely if it includes the AIMIM in its fold. Jaleel also said that the MVA should not lament losing because of the presence of a Muslim candidate if it does not include the AIMIM.
In the recently conducted Lok Sabha polls, the Maha Vikas Aghadi won on 31 out of the total 48 seats in the state. Of these, the Congress bagged 13 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) got 9 whereas the NCP (SCP) got 8.