Congress Seat Sharing Sealed, To Contest 18 Seats in Maharashtra

The Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra has reached an agreement on seat distribution for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to sources, the Shiv Sena faction led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will vie for 20 out of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress party will contest 18 seats, while the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar will field candidates for the remaining 10 seats.

The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, which initially demanded five seats, will now receive two from the Sena’s share. Additionally, an independent candidate, Raju Shetty, will be supported by Mr. Pawar’s party. It’s also been indicated that the Sena will contest four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, with one, potentially the Mumbai North East seat, being considered for allocation to the VBA.

Earlier reports suggested that negotiations for 39 seats had been concluded, with notable contention over Mumbai’s South Central and North West seats, both of which were desired by both the Congress and the Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray.

However, earlier in 2019 elections, the undivided Shiv Sena, allied with the BJP, contested 23 seats and secured victory in 18, including Mumbai South Central and North West. The Congress contested 25 seats but managed to win only in Chandrapur, while Sharad Pawar’s NCP, also undivided at the time, contested 19 seats and secured victory in four.

The BJP emerged as the dominant force in that election, winning 23 out of the 25 seats it contested.

For the upcoming election, the BJP will receive support from rebel factions of both the Shiv Sena and NCP. These factions, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar respectively, orchestrated revolts within their parties, which were widely perceived as being supported by the BJP, before ultimately joining the saffron party.