Consensus in MVA on 200 out of 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra: Sharad Pawar

PTI Pune: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies have arrived at a consensus on 200 assembly seats in Maharashtra out of the 288 for the next month’s elections. Speaking to reporters at Karad in Maharashtra’s Satara district, he said the results of Haryana polls, where the Congress suffered a drubbing at the hands of the BJP, will not have any bearing on the elections in Maharashtra. “I am not directly involved in the seat-sharing discussions. (NCP-SP state unit chief) Jayant Patil is representing our party in the talks. As per the information he shared, an understanding has been reached on approximately 200 out of the total 288 seats,” he said in response to a question. Asked about which seats in Satara district that the NCP (SP) will demand, he said a decision on seat-sharing will be taken by Patil.

Elections in Maharashtra will be held on November 20, while the counting of votes will take place on November 23. The MVA, comprising the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) is fighting against the ruling Mahayuti alliance of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-helmed NCP. This is the first assembly election in the state after the Shiv Sena and NCP parties split in June 2022 and July 2023 respectively. Responding to a query about the INDIA bloc’s strategy after the Congress’s defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, Pawar said the BJP was ruling that state and it managed to retain power.

“We are studying Haryana (results), but at the same time look at the results of Jammu and Kashmir (polls). I do not think that it (Haryana results) will have any bearing on the state’s (Maharashtra’s) elections. As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, the world community gives more attention to it and its poll results are more important for the country,” he said. In the October 5 Haryana polls, the BJP secured an unprecedented third term in the state, winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. The Congress won 37 seats. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took oath as the CM of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.