Lok Sabha polls: Congress proposes ‘friendly fight’ over Sangli seat, Uddhav Sena rejects it outright
'In case the parties refuse to withdraw their candidates, we have proposed a friendly fight. This means, we will also field candidates as well as NCP and Sena,'' Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said.
Londhe said they were expecting that the party command will hold talks with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar to resolve the issue. (File/ Express Photo by Rohit Jain Paras)
EVEN as the key constituents of Maha Vikas Aghadi held discussions on campaign strategy on Thursday, the dispute over Sangli and Bhiwandi constituencies still remains. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) said Sangli was a closed chapter for them, the Congress said it was hopeful that an agreement for a ”friendly fight” could be met between the two parties.
”The Sangli and Bhiwandi issues have gone to our party high command. In case both the NCP(SP) and Shiv Sena(UBT) do not agree, we proposed a friendly fight of sorts,” Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe told the Indian Express today.
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Londhe said they were expecting that the party command will hold talks with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar to resolve the issue. ”In case the parties refuse to withdraw their candidates, we have proposed a friendly fight. This means, we will also field candidates as well as NCP and Sena. These are the only two where there is a dispute,” he said.
Rejecting Maharashtra’s proposal, Sanjay Raut, chief spokesperson of Shiv Sena (UBT), said if ”friendly fights” are allowed, then it will mean that rival candidates will get an ideal opportunity to win the seat. ”Congress is a mature party and therefore we hope it will not take any such decision. We will not agree to it,” Raut said.
Prithviraj Chavan, campaign committee chief of the Congress, said Thursday’s meeting primarily discussed campaign strategy. However, there was also some discussion on Sangli and Bhiwandi seats.
The discussion at the MVA meeting centred around the strategy about the poll campaigns, the rallies to be organised in different constituencies and the issues to be raised. ”On the Sangli and Bhiwandi seats, all the three parties put forth their views. However, the discussions remained incomplete. We will continue to discuss the issue till we find a solution,” he said.
The Congress has announced Vishal Patil, grandson of former chief minister Vasantdada Patil from the Sangli seat, which was a traditional Congress bastion until the BJP dethroned the party.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) which has fielded Chandrahar Patil from Sangli seat however maintained that there was hardly any discussion on Sangli seat. ”Before the meeting itself we had made it clear that we will be discussing poll strategy and not seat disputes. At the meeting also there was hardly any discussion on seats. The seat-sharing issue ended last week itself. For us, the Sangli seat is a closed chapter. We are contesting the seat,” Raut said.
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A couple of days back, the Congress had deputed Vishwajeet Kadam, MLA from Sangli to Delhi to meet top party leaders and urge them to intervene in the matter. However, top leaders had then referred the issue to state leaders to resolve, the source said.
In the Bhiwandi seat, Congress and Sharad Pawar led NCP are at loggerheads with both wanting to contest the seat. ”We will be fielding our candidate from the Bhiwandi seat. At the same time, we are confident that the issue will be resolved amicably during the ongoing MVA meeting,” said NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase. ”Our State party chief Jayant Patil said the issue will be resolved in a couple of days,” he said.
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