24 October,2024 12:23 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar/ File Photos
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, announced on Thursday that the seat-sharing issue within the opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), had been settled. He expressed optimism that the MVA will win over 200 seats in the Maharashtra Elections 2024, reported ANI.
"The problem of seat sharing has been resolved...We are going to contest the elections based on merit. In Maharashtra, today, after seat sharing, we are confident that we will cross 200 (seats). This 'choryuti' (Mahayuti) has ruined the state. We will dethrone them...The public has also made up their minds to dethrone them," Wadettiwar told ANI.
"The commission and corruption have increased by about 30-35 per cent. Maharashtra is openly being looted," he alleged.
According to the report, on Wednesday, the MVA, which includes the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray group), and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), unveiled their seat-sharing formula. Each party will compete for 85 of the 255 seats, with the remaining 23 seats selected by party candidates. Some of these seats will go to allies like the Samajwadi Party, PWP, and CPI.
On the same day, the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, unveiled their first list of 65 candidates for the Maharashtra Elections 2024, with Aaditya Thackeray running again from the Worli constituency. Kedhar Dighe, nephew of late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, will face Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency. Anand Dighe had mentored Shinde, the report stated.
Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has released its initial list of 38 candidates, with Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar running for the Baramati constituency. Other significant candidates include Chhagan Bhujbal of Yeola and Dilip Walse Patil of Ambegaon.
The Maharashtra Elections 2024 are scheduled for November 20, with votes for all 288 seats counting on November 23. The primary electoral contest will be between two major alliances: the ruling Mahayuti, which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).
The BJP gained 105 seats in the 2019 Assembly elections, followed by the Shiv Sena with 56 and the Congress with 44.
