MVA allies form coordination panel to discuss seat-sharing for Maharashtra in LS Polls

Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray/ File Pic

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies have taken a significant step in their preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by forming a nine-member coordination committee. This committee, comprising three representatives from each constituent, is tasked with navigating the complex discussions around seat-sharing in Maharashtra, according to a report in PTI.

Prominent Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, a member of the newly established committee, confirmed its formation and purpose. The MVA alliance consists of three key constituents: the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar group). Maharashtra boasts 48 Lok Sabha seats, making it the second-largest parliamentary delegation after Uttar Pradesh's 80 seats.

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Chavan was quoted in the report emphasizing that the Congress leadership in the state would first convene a meeting to define its position in the upcoming seat-sharing negotiations with fellow MVA partners. He elaborated that the specifics of the seat-sharing formula would be determined through dialogues with the alliance allies.

"We will then decide the formula of seat-sharing in talks with allies," he told PTI.

Joining Chavan on the committee are other seasoned Congress leaders, Naseem Khan and Basavraj Patil.

Naseem Khan outlined a common understanding among all MVA allies, emphasizing that the key criterion for seat allocation would be the winnability of candidates. He also revealed that the Congress party would conduct a comprehensive regional assessment of all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. This evaluation is scheduled to take place from the 7th to the 12th of October and will help guide the alliance's strategy.

Another senior Congress leader underscored the importance of careful candidate selection to ensure that votes from both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress, who had forged an alliance in 2019, are effectively transferred to each other's candidates. It's worth noting that the NCP (undivided) has been a longstanding ally of the Congress.

The coordination committee features representatives from each constituent. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is represented by Sanjay Raut, Vinayak Raut, and Anil Desai, while the NCP (Sharad Pawar group) members in the panel include former ministers Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad, and Anil Deshmukh.