Maharashtra assembly elections 2024: Congress dismisses rift in MVA, says will declare all seats today

Ramesh Chennithala. File Pic

Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, the state Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala dismissed speculations about a rift in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) stating that all is well in the opposition alliance, which will announce the list of all its candidates by Saturday evening, reported news agency ANI.

Chennithala who attended the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in Delhi on Friday, Chennithala said that party leader Balasaheb Thorat will meet with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP-SP Chief Sharad Pawar today to sort out all the issues.

"All is well in MVA. We are going to fight the election together. There is no problem in MVA. The problem is in Mahayuti. We are all together. We are working out a formula. By tomorrow evening (Saturday), all the seats will be declared," Chennithala told ANI late last night.

When asked about the reported differences in the number of seats, he said, "In Mahayuti, the problem is much more. In MVA, the problem is less. I have asked Balasaheb Thorat to meet Uddhav ji and Sharad Pawar ji to thrash out all the issues," Chennithala told ANI.

The MVA alliance revealed its seat-sharing arrangement for 255 constituencies, assigning 85 seats to each party. The remaining 23 seats in the state Assembly will be allocated based on their respective party candidate lists.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole confirmed on Thursday that the MVA has reached an agreement on seat sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024.

According to him, each alliance partner, namely Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) will be contesting 85 seats each. Additionally, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also confirmed that the MVA partners will be contesting 85 seats each.

The Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting of Congress for the selection of candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024 was held at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in the national capital today.

Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition MVA -- comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress -- have intensified their preparations for the upcoming elections to 288 Assembly seats in the State.

The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024 are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.

(With inputs from ANI)