Mumbai, May 29 (IANS) The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday announced its seat sharing arrangement for the elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council slated for June 18. The last date for filing nominations is June 1.

Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said that of the total 17 seats, consensus has been reached on 15, adding that a decision regarding the remaining two seats will be taken within the next two days.

“A crucial meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi was held today regarding the seat-sharing for the Legislative Council elections. We have reached an agreement on 15 out of the 17 seats. Consensus has been built on which party will contest which seat.

“However, discussions are still ongoing for two specific seats. A final decision on these remaining two seats will be made in the next two days. Since all three parties have staked a claim on the Nanded and Nashik seats, we have announced the decision for the other 15 seats today, excluding these two,” Sapkal stated.

The Congress party will contest the seats in Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Bhandara-Gondia, Amravati, Ahilyanagar, Solapur, Dharashiv-Beed-Latur, and the Nagpur bye-election, announced Sapkal.

He further stated that Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) will field its candidates in Ratnagiri, Jalgaon, Parbhani, Hingoli, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Further, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) will contest three seats Pune, Thane, and Satara-Sangli.

Launching a scathing attack on the ruling Mahayuti alliance, Sapkal said, “We are contesting the Legislative Council election unitedly as the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The core issue of this election is that we are moving forward to save democracy, defying the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) horse-trading.

“It is evident that massive amounts of money is being spent in this election. The situation has become a display of sheer money power. In many places, corporators are being lured and picked up by offering Rs 5 lakh. In this election, it’s not just the Opposition voters, but even the ruling parties are poaching voters from their own allies. This is the extent of the horse-trading underway.”

Although the MVA leaders announced their seat-sharing formula today, unanimity eluded them on two out of the 17 seats. A deadlock has emerged over the Nanded and Nashik seats, as all three constituent parties of the MVA have staked their claim on them.

However, Sapkal assured that a final decision on these two seats would be made in the next two days. While meetings are simultaneously underway within the Mahayuti alliance, they are yet to officially declare their seat-sharing formula for the Legislative Council elections.

According to the Mahayuti alliance insiders, of the 17 seats, BJP likely to field candidates on 11 seats, Shiv Sena four seats and NCP two seats.

–IANS

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