Amid row over Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s remarks that Shiv Sena (UBT) would contest 23 of the 48 seats in upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, party chief Uddhav Thackeray clarified saying that he won’t do anything that would hurt the maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
Raut’s “23 seats for Shiv Sena in Maharashtra” remarks on Friday ruffled many feathers in Congress, which is a constituent of the MVA.
Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Thackeray said the ticket distribution will take place smoothly. He added that he has had a word with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi.
On Friday, Raut had said that Shiv Sena (UBT) faction would contest on 23 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He had also said the seat-sharing talks with Congress would have to “start from zero” as the latter had “not won any seat'” in the previous elections, a remark which drew sharp criticism from Congress leaders.
“I will not do anything that will hurt the MVA. So I will not pay attention to those who say anything. Until the Congress president speaks on this issue (seat-sharing), till that time, neither I nor anyone from my side will comment,” Thackeray said, as quoted by PTI.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) also said that the ticket distribution will take place smoothly. “The discussion between the Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) has been smooth,” he added. He also said that efforts are on to have a joint meeting with other MVA members, including NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) as well as the Prakash Amedbkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena (Undivided) had won 18 of the 23 seats in Maharashtra while its ally BJP bagged 23 of 25 constituencies. The NCP (Undivided) emerged victorious on 4 seats while Congress just secured one seat.