‘MVA talks on track, consensus on over 125 seats; but CM face to be decided only post-polls’: Congress’ Balasaheb Thorat

Congress CLP leader Balasaheb Thorat confident MVA will secure over 180 seats in Maharashtra elections, amid alliance talks.

Denying the possibility of a hung Assembly after the Maharashtra elections, Congress legislative party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat said that there is widespread anger amid not just the Maratha community but also among the Dhangars and other sections. He exuded confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will come to power in the State with over 180 seats, and added that the seat distribution talks will resume after Anant Chaturthi. He expressed fear that if the elections in Maharashtra get delayed, they are worried about the possibility of President’s rule.

The MVA seat sharing talks are on track and consensus has been achieved on over 125 seats, Maharashtra CLP leader Balasaheb Thorat told The Hindu. In an exclusive interview, he said that the seat sharing talks will resume after Anant Chaturthi, and that the campaigning strategy will be drawn thereafter. He claimed that the MVA will get almost 180 seats in the 288-seat Assembly.

Also read | Seat sharing tussle: Maharashtra BJP proposes friendly fight on at least 25 seats

Days after Uddhav Thackeray’s visit to Delhi and speculations about the CM face for the MVA, he said that there was no discussion about the issue at present, and that the CM face will be decided only after the elections. Sources within Congress have said in the past that the CM face will likely come from a party that gains the maximum number of seats.

“We have already held three rounds of talks. But there has been a gap due to Ganeshotsav. The talks will resume soon after Anant Chaturthi,” he said. With the speculations about the possibility of a third alliance emerging in Maharashtra politics, the statements assume significance. Recently, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar had held a press conference to announce that the alliance of Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis will bring about political transformation in Maharashtra, and that the Adivasis will not dance to the tunes of either Congress or the BJP.

When asked about the possibility of a third alliance in the State where the tussle is between the Mahayuti (the BJP, the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena group, and the NCP Ajit Pawar group) and the MVA (the Congress, the Shiv Sena UBT, and the NCP SP), he accused the BJP of divisive politics. “The BJP’s way of politics is never straightforward. They try to bring about a division of votes to win. They use some organisations. This is the experience that people have for all these years. But this time, it will be a straight fight between the MVA and the Mahayuti,” he said.

Slamming the Mahayuti over the recent visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he said the differences between the three parties of Mahayuti were out in the open. “There is tremendous tussle over seats, over the administrative issues, over the clearing of files. Corruption in the State has reached to unprecedented levels. BJP has been trying to encroach on the seats of the alliance partners. People can see all these things for themselves,” he said.