Seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra polls yet to begin in MVA; all are equal stakeholders: Raut

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut says seat-sharing talks among MVA allies for Maharashtra Assembly polls has not yet begun.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on June 22 said seat-sharing talks have not commenced among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies for the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled later this year, and asserted that all are equal stakeholders in the Opposition alliance.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Raut said the MVA contested the Lok Sabha polls unitedly and showed how Maharashtra stopped the BJP from getting a full majority. The MVA comprises Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress. The alliance won 30 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"Seat-sharing talks have not yet commenced — neither with the NCP (SP) nor the Congress. So the question of who will contest how many seats doesn't arise. All are equal stakeholders," he said. "There are 288 [Assembly] seats [in Maharashtra]. There will be no shortage of seats for anyone. Everyone will contest comfortably," he said.

His remarks came in the backdrop of an NCP (SP) party leader quoted its supremo Sharad Pawar as saying that his party agreed to contest fewer seats than its MVA allies during the Lok Sabha elections but the situation would be different in the Assembly polls.

Mr. Raut said that in the Lok Sabha polls, the strike rate of NCP (SP) was the highest as it won eight of the 10 seats it contested. The Shiv Sena (UBT) won nine of the 21 seats, but it was the most targeted party by the Opposition, he claimed. He said the Shiv Sena (UBT) lost two-three seats by a thin margin or else its strike rate too would have been better.

Of the three MVA parties, NCP (SP) strike rate was 80%, the Congress' strike rate was 75%, while that of the Shiv Sena (UBT), which contested the maximum number of seats, was just 41%.