The disagreement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies over seat sharing continues. After a nine-hour meeting at the Trident Hotel in South Mumbai on Saturday, the MVA leaders still haven't agreed on important seats in the Vidarbha region.
The leaders from both Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have contacted NCP chief Sharad Pawar to help mediate and settle the disagreements within the opposition alliance, India Today quoted sources as saying.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Anil Parab and Aaditya Thackeray met Sharad Pawar at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai. Senior Congress leaders are also staying in regular contact with Pawar.
During the Lok Sabha elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction gave its Ramtek and Amravati seats to the Congress. Now, as part of the MVA alliance for the Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is asking for more seats. They are claiming a total of 12 seats in the Vidarbha region, arguing that there are no current MLAs from the MVA in those areas.
These have become bone of contention in MVA:
1. Armory - Krishna Gajbe, BJP MLA 2. Gadchiroli - Devral Holi, BJP MLA 3. Gondia - Vinod Aggarwal, Independent MLA 4. Bhandara - Independent MLA Narendra Bondekar 5. Chimur - Kirtikumar Bhangadia, BJP MLA 6. Ballarpur - Sudhir Mungantiwar, BJP MLA 7. Chandrapur - Kishore Jorgewar, Independent MLA 8. Ramtek - Ashish Jaiswal, Independent MLA (supporting Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena group) 9. Kamthi - Currently Tekchand Savarkar, BJP MLA 10. South Nagpur - Mohan Mate, BJP MLA 11. Aheri - Dharmarao Baba Atram, NCP Ajit Pawar group MLA 12. Bhadravati Varora - Congress MLA Pratibha Dhanorkar (but currently MP in Lok Sabha)
While claiming the 12 seats, the Congress is pushing to contest from the Nashik West seat, where the Shiv Sena (UBT) has nearly finalized Sudhakar Badgujar as their candidate. When Congress leader Nana Patole insisted on Nashik West, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut chose to walk out of the meeting.