Amid rift with MVA partners, Sena (UBT) to declare second list of five candidates on Saturday

With these, the Sena (UBT) will contest from 22 Lok Sabha seats, the same number on which the party had contested in 2019 in an alliance with the BJP and won 18 seats.

Raut asserted that the issue of seat-sharing between the MVA partners — Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) — was now resolved and that seat-sharing talks were over. The allies are now planning the election campaign and joint rallies, he said.

“The MVA will hold a joint press conference on April 3 and the details about joint rallies and campaign will be addressed by the leaders of all three parties, including Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and senior Congress leaders,” Raut said.

As the Sena (UBT) declared its first list of 17 candidates on Wednesday, the Congress had insisted that the Uddhav Sena reconsider the candidature of two seats, Sangli and Mumbai South Central.

In its list declared on Wednesday, the Sena (UBT) named former wrestler Chandrahar Patil as its candidate from Sangli in western Maharashtra, Uddhav’s close aide Anil Desai from Mumbai South Central, and Amol Kirtikar from Mumbai North West. The Congress, however, wanted to field its own candidates, Vishal Patil from Sangli and Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai South Central.

Sangli is a traditional seat of the Congress, which won it continuously right from Independence till 2014. It was hoping to field Vishal Patil, the grandson of the late chief minister Vasantdada Patil, who belonged to Sangli. During seat-sharing talks, the Congress pointed to the Sena’s organisational absence in Sangli to argue its case.

Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad, also its Dharavi MLA, too was eyeing the Mumbai South Central seat, on grounds that her late father Eknath Gaikwad represented it in 2009.