Sanjay Raut. File photo
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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said no seat-allocation talks have begun among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance for the Maharashtra Assembly elections due later this year, asserting that all are equal stakeholders in the opposition alliance, news agency PTI reported.
Sanjay Raut told reporters that the MVA had come together to fight the Lok Sabha elections and shown the world how Maharashtra had prevented the BJP from winning a majority, according to news agency PTI.
The MVA, comprised of the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, won 30 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats.
“The seat-allocation negotiations have not started yet – with either the SP or the Congress. So, the question of who will contest how many seats does not arise. All are equal stakeholders,” he said, reported PTI.
“There are 288 seats (in the Maharashtra Assembly). There will be no shortage of seats for anyone. Everyone will be able to contest elections with ease,” Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying by PTI.
His remarks came in the wake of an NCP (SP) leader quoted party senior leader Sharad Pawar as saying that the party had agreed to contest fewer seats than its ally MVA in the Lok Sabha elections, but the situation would be different in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
According to the PTI news agency, Raut said the NCP (SP) had the highest winning percentage in the Indian Lok Sabha elections, winning eight of the 10 seats it contested.
Though the Shiv Sena (UBT) won nine of the 21 seats, it was the party that was attacked the most by the Opposition, he claimed.
According to PTI, Raut said the Shiv Sena (UBT) had narrowly lost two or three seats but otherwise the party’s chances of winning would have been higher.
Of the three parties in the MVA, the NCP (SP) won 80% of the seats and the Congress won 75% of the seats, while the Shiv Sena (UBT), which contested the maximum number of seats, won just 41%.
(With inputs from PTI)
