'Pawar' Play: As MVA Seat-Sharing Stalemate Continues, Ball In NCP (SP) Chief's Court To Broker Peace Deal

On the day the BJP released its first list of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the impasse over seat-sharing between Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), two of the three constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), showed no sign of easing.

Sharad Pawar, leader of the third MVA party, the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), has seemingly been asked to mediate, reported the Indian Express.

Effectively ruling out the possibility of any seat-sharing discussions on Sunday or Monday, the Congress cancelled its Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled to finalise candidates, instructing its state leadership to remain in Delhi, while leaders of the Shiv Sena (UBT) gathered at the residence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, Matoshree, in Mumbai.

Last week, a Congress panel approved 62 candidates for CEC consideration.

Ahead of the Sena (UBT) meeting on Sunday afternoon, the party's Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Raut, suggested that "some decisions needed to be taken."

He stated, "The meeting yesterday (Saturday) went on for over 10 hours. Today (Sunday), after speaking to Thackeray, we called an urgent meeting of our leaders. We may have to make certain decisions. We will go to Matoshree, discuss the issues and make a decision on how to go ahead."

In response, the Congress decided to "wait and see" what the Sena (UBT)'s next move would be. "We want to finalise a few decisions and hence urged our leaders to remain in Delhi," a Congress source said.

However, another senior Congress negotiator told The Indian Express that some of the Sena (UBT)'s demands were "unreasonable and difficult to accept."

According to sources, Saturday's marathon meeting ended at 2 am without resolution, as the Sena (UBT) remained firm on its demands, showing interest in contesting more seats in Vidarbha and claiming seats that are traditionally Congress strongholds.

"How can we let go of seats like Warora, Dhamangaon Railway, Ramtek or Nagpur South? While we have a history of winning these seats, they don't have candidates here. The demands are unreasonable," a Congress leader commented.

While the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve from the Sena (UBT), stressed that the Matoshree meeting was to finalise the party's campaign strategy and said any issues "would be resolved soon," party MLA and former minister Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav's son, held an impromptu meeting with Pawar.

However, he declined to reveal the details of the discussion.

Later in the day, Raut and fellow Sena MP Anil Desai also met with the NCP leader. While Desai suggested that the MVA would hold a joint press conference on Monday, a senior Congress figure claimed that his party was unaware of such plans.

Congress also appeared to reach out to Pawar, with its MLA and former minister Naseem Khan remarking, "It was a regular meeting. We want the MVA to stay firm and ensure we return to power. We are confident that all issues will be resolved soon. Discussions for building consensus on the remaining 10% of seats are in progress. Since Pawar is the architect of the MVA, we met him."

Sources within the NCP(SP) hinted that Pawar might step in to resolve the differences between the Congress and the Sena (UBT).

Last week, the MVA reportedly agreed on 260 out of 288 seats in Maharashtra, but the remaining 28 have proven contentious. The Sena (UBT) has even threatened to withdraw from talks if Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole takes part. "We are disappointed with the way Congress leaders in Maharashtra are handling seat sharing... If we do not get our act together, how will we win the election?" Raut stated, adding that he had spoken with Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik, as well as Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, about the matter.