Maharashtra Election 2024 : The fight over seat sharing in the opposition Mahavikas Aghadi alliance (MVA) has intensified in the Maharashtra assembly elections. The three big parties in the alliance, Congress, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav faction and NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction have already announced to divide 85-85 seats among themselves, but there is still a huge tussle going on for the remaining seats.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party has given a clear ultimatum to the alliance leaders. The party is adamant on five seats in Maharashtra. SP’s Maharashtra state president Abu Asim Azmi has given an ultimatum that if the party’s demands are not met by Saturday afternoon, the party will field its candidates on 25 seats.
Azmi gave ultimatum till tomorrow afternoon
The issue of seat sharing in the Mahavikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra is not being solved. Samajwadi Party had earlier demanded 12 assembly seats in the state. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had recently visited Maharashtra. While talking to the media in Dhule district of northern Maharashtra, he had asked for 12 seats for the party.
There is a fierce fight going on between the three major parties as well as the allies regarding seats and in such a situation SP has now come to the demand of five seats. To clear the picture regarding seats, Maharashtra State SP President Azmi discussed with NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Friday. During this, he said that SP should get a chance to contest elections on five seats. He has also set a deadline in this regard till Saturday afternoon.
If not given five seats then will contest elections on 25
After meeting Sharad Pawar, Abu Azmi has also said in a threatening manner that he will wait for the decision till Saturday afternoon. If the decision is not taken by that time, then Samajwadi Party will field its candidates not on five but on 25 seats. Azmi said that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has authorized me to take decisions regarding Maharashtra. In such a situation, if our demand is not met then we are ready to take a big decision.
SP has demanded these seats
Referring to the seats, Azmi said that the party has again demanded two existing seats, Bhiwandi East and Mankhurd. Apart from these two seats, the party has demanded Bhiwandi West, Malegaon and Dhule City assembly seats. We hope that a decision in this regard will be taken by the MVA leaders by tomorrow afternoon.
Distribution of 85-85 seats among the three parties
During the press conference called by the Mahavikas Aghadi alliance on Wednesday, Uddhav faction leader Sanjay Raut and State Congress President Nana Patole had announced equal seat distribution among the three parties. Both the leaders said that 85-85 seats have been divided equally among the three parties. He said that after 270 seats, the remaining 18 seats will be given to allies and small parties.
If the total of seats distributed among the three parties is taken then it is only 255 and the picture regarding the remaining 15 seats is not yet clear. The distribution of these remaining seats will decide who will be the elder brother in the alliance.
In this matter, there is a tussle between Congress, Uddhav group and Sharad Pawar group. It has been decided to give 18 assembly seats to parties like Samajwadi Party, PWP, AAP and Left etc. There is also resentment among smaller parties regarding the delay in seat distribution.
If minorities don’t get a chance then the result will be like Haryana.
Voting for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra is to be held on November 20. The last date for filing nominations is October 29 but the seat sharing dispute has not been resolved yet. This is why allies have also increased the pressure. It is clear from Azmi’s ultimatum that he wants a decision on seat sharing as soon as possible.
He has said in a warning tone that if you do not give a chance to the minorities then they will contest the elections and you will have to see another result like Haryana. Congress was considered to be in a strong position in Haryana but BJP surprised everyone and achieved the historic feat of forming the government for the third consecutive time.
