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Journalism of Courage
Seat-sharing talks in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have stalled over nine of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. Despite several meetings and claims, the Opposition alliance’s members who are part of the INDIA alliance nationally have not yet been able to settle on a seat-sharing arrangement for these seats.
Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) recently joined the MVA, which comprises the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Congress. The nine seats that have become the bone of contention, according to sources, are Akola, Bhandara-Gondia, Hingoli, Kolhapur, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North, West Nasik, Pune, and Wardha.
Nasik: Each party seems to be eyeing this north Maharashtra seat. In the 2019 polls, the undivided Shiv Sena’s Hemant Godse defeated the united NCP’s Sameer Bhujbal by more than 2.92 lakh votes. Godse has now shifted to the Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while Bhujbal is with Ajit Pawar’s NCP. The tension, sources in both parties said, would be resolved after each party finalises its candidates.
Kolhapur: All three parties are staking claim for Kolhapur because they all have a sizable cadre base there. Last time, Sanjay Mandlik of the undivided Sena defeated the united NCP’s Dhananjay Mahadik by 2.7 lakh votes.
While Mandlik is now in the Sena, Mahadik went on to join the BJP and was given a Rajya Sabha berth. As per sources, Shrimant Shahu Chhatrapati who is a descendant of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha empire, could be the Opposition’s unanimous candidate from the seat. The party symbol that he will contest has not been finalised, sources said.
Mumbai South Central: This urban seat is becoming a prestige battle for the Shiv Sena (UBT) as it covers Dadar, where the party is headquartered. In 2019, Rahul Shewale of the undivided Sena defeated Eknath Gaikwad of the Congress by 1.52 lakh votes. Shewale later joined the Shinde camp. Gaikwad’s daughter and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad is looking to contest from here while Shiv Sena (UBT) wants to field someone who can defeat Shewale.
Mumbai North West: The constituency is now represented by Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar who defeated the Congress’s Sanjay Nirupam by more than 2.6 lakh votes in 2019. Kirtikar is now with the Shiv Sena. His son Amol, however, remained with the Sena (UBT) and is one of the party’s contenders this time. Nirupam who has criticised Thackeray several times is again demanding this seat. Thackeray has already announced observers for the Mumbai South Central and North West seats, clearly implying that his party is not willing to give in easily.
Pune: Sources said both the Congress and the NCP were looking at this high-profile seat. In 2019, Girish Bapat of the BJP defeated Mohan Joshi of the Congress by 3.24 lakh votes. Before the BJP made a breakthrough in Pune in 2019, the seat was a traditional Congress stronghold. The Congress is citing this reason to demand it again. The NCP wants to experiment with its candidate since Sharad Pawar is influential in the larger Pune district and the areas surrounding it.
Wardha: Sharad Pawar’s NCP is said to be demanding Wardha and the Congress seems to be eyeing it too, with the local party unit trying to persuade the state leadership to not let go of its claim. The NCP argument is that the Congress has lost the seat to the BJP the last two times. But the Congress’ response is that it has a base in the constituency.
Bhandara-Gondiya: The Sharad Pawar-led group and Congress are also fighting over Bhandara-Gondiya, where Rajya Sabha MP Prafful Patel who won the seat in 2009 holds influence. Patel, who is currently the seniormost leader in Ajit Pawar’s NCP, was one of the key architects of the rebellion against Sharad Pawar last July. The Sharad Pawar group wants to wrest this and deal a blow to Ajit Pawar.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole hails from the same region and the party wants to field him again. In 2019, the undivided NCP’s Nana Panchabuddhe lost to the BJP’s Sunil Mendhe by around 1.97 lakh votes. Patole won the seat as a BJP candidate in 2014 but resigned from the party. In a bypoll in 2017, the NCP won the seat.
Akola: This seat is considered one of the strongest bases of the VBA, with Ambedkar contesting from here in 2019. The division of votes between Ambedkar and Congress’s Hidayatullah Patel helped the BJP’s Sanjay Dhotre, who won it by around 2.75 lakh votes. The Congress is considering contesting its candidate from there this time too.
Hingoli: The seat in Marathwada has emerged as a point of difference between the Uddhav Sena and the Congress. In 2019, Hemant Patil of the undivided Shiv Sena defeated Subhash Wankhede of the Congress by around 2.77 lakh votes. Now, Patil has shifted to the Shiv Sena and Wankhede has returned to the Uddhav camp.
