MVA’s seat-sharing woes: Congress & Uddhav Sena tussle over Sangli, Mumbai seats, VBA plays hardball

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the opposition alliance in Maharashtra, is facing increasing tensions due to unresolved seat-sharing disputes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The MVA – a part of the INDIA bloc at the national level – is includes the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) under Sharad Pawar and the Congress.

The coalition has disagreements over at least two Mumbai seats and the Sangli seat in western Maharashtra. The situation is further complicated by Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which remains undecided about joining the Opposition.

Despite a meeting with Sharad Pawar Thursday aimed at resolving these issues, the crisis persists, particularly over Sangli – a traditional Congress seat, which the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is eyeing.

Speaking to ThePrint, a Congress leader underscored the party’s stronghold on Sangli since Independence and questioned Shiv Sena’s (UBT) insistence on the seat despite lacking local support.

“The Sena (UBT) can bargain on any other seat but not Sangli, which has remained a Congress bastion for years since Independence. Sena (UBT) won’t even win the seat without our backing, so why do they want this seat? Our unit in Sangli has a strong objection to ceding this seat to Shiv Sena (UBT),” said the leader.

But despite the talks remaining inconclusive, Uddhav Thackeray, who currently is on a state-wide tour of different constituencies, was in Sangli Thursday where he again saidwrestler Chandrahar Patil will be his party’s candidate from Sangli Lok Sabha seat. The local Congress leaders even boycotted his rally there.

Following Thackeray’s rally, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole Friday raised objections to the announcement and said the alliance protocol says that seats that are contentious need to be discussed and solved amicably.

“But the way Uddhav Thackeray announced the Sangli seat is a bit problematic. But still, we will sit down and discuss it and try to find a way around it,” Patole told the media persons.

However, for Shiv Sena (UBT), which has ceded the Kolhapur seat to the Congress and will have to give away the Hatkanangle seat to ally Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetti – the party is insisting on the Sangli seat to have some presence in western Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut told the media Friday.

“I don’t want to talk about seat specifics. The talks are ongoing. We as an alliance, MVA or INDIA, are here to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and within a day or two, all differences will be resolved,” Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA and former minister told ThePrint.

Meanwhile, late Saturday, the Congress announced the second list for four seats from Vidarbha, which will go to polls in the first phase on 19 April. Earlier, on Thursday, the party came out with its first list from Maharashtra containing seven names.

With this, the Congress has so far declared 11 candidates from Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha. The BJP, so far, has declared 20 candidates in its first list.

Defectors, homegrown workers, caste – political messaging behind parties’ Maharashtra RS picks

Seats in limbo

In Sangli, the Congress is keen on giving the ticket to Vishal Patil – the grandson of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil. But Uddhav Thackeray announced the candidature of Chandrahar Patil, who has won the state’s top wrestling competition ‘Maharashtra Kesari’ twice.

During his Sangli visit, Thackeray said, “Today I am announcing the candidature of Chandrahar Patil. He will contest the election on the symbol of ‘mashaal’ (torch). I have chosen this ‘mard’ (man), who is ready to fight for you. You are the real ‘gada’ (blunt mace) for him,” he said while addressing the rally.

But the contention within the coalition is not just for the Sangli seat. Even in Mumbai, which has a total of six seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) wants to fight four seats and give two to the Congress, while the latter is insisting on equal sharing.

The seat of Mumbai North West was won by the Shiv Sena undivided candidate, Gajanan Kirtikar, who defeated the Congress’ Sanjay Nirupam in the 2019 parliamentary elections.

However, after the spilt in Shiv Sena, Gajanan Kirtikar joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction, while his son Amol Kirtikar is with Uddhav Thackeray.

Notably, a few weeks ago, Uddhav Thackeray even announced Amol Kiritkar’s candidature from the Mumbai North West seat. This is believed to have irked Sanjay Nirupam, who is keen on contesting from the seat again. However, the Congress and the Sena (UBT) are yet to form a consensus on this.

“The talks are going on for this seat. I am hopeful we will get it. I haven’t yet thought of any other plan (of moving out of the party),” Sanjay Nirupam told ThePrint.

Congress’s Maharashtra list

On Saturday night, the Congress released its second list of candidates for the upcoming polls, featuring four seats from the Vidarbha region slated for the first phase of voting. The candidates for Ramtek, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Bhandara-Gondiya, and Nagpur have been announced.

From Ramtek, the party has fielded Rashmi Shyamkumar Barve, while MLA Vikas Thakre will contest against Union minister and BJP stalwart Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur.Prashant Padole has been felied from Bhandara-Gondiya, and Namdeo Kirsan from Gadchiroli-Chimur.

Notably, the candidate for the Chandrapur seat, which is also part of the first phase, remains undeclared due to an ongoing internal dispute. The party had limited success in the 2019 elections, where it secured a single seat in Chandrapur, won by the late Suresh Dhanorkar. Currently, his widow, MLA Pratibha Dhanorkar, has expressed interest in contesting the Lok Sabha seat.

However, Leader of Opposition Vijay Waddettiwar is lobbying for his daughter Shivani to run, while the party has suggested that Waddettiwar himself should stand for election.

On Thursday, the party announced its first list of Lok Sabha candidates for seven seats in Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, will contest from the Kolhapur seat, while Kasba Peth legislator Ravindra Dhangekar will contest from the Pune constituency.

Three-term MLA and daughter of former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Praniti Shinde, will contest from Solapur, while Gowal Padvi, son of loyalist K. C. Padavi, will fight from the traditional Congress seat of Nandurbar.

Another loyalist and veteran, Vasantrao Chavan, has been selected to contest from Nanded, a constituency known as the home turf of senior leader Ashok Chavan, who quit the party to join the BJP.

Balwant Wankhede, sitting MLA from Daryapur constituency, has been nominated to contest the Amravati seat, while Dr Shivaji Kalge was the seventh candidate announced to contest from the traditional Congress seat of Latur.

Meanwhile, the worries for MVA continue with VBA’s Prakash Ambedkar playing hardball. The MVA has offered four seats but the VBA still has not accepted. The MVA leaders said that they will continue with their talks with Ambedkar to get him on board.

ThePrint reached Ambedkar via calls but failed to get a response. This report will be updated once a response is received.