The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has remained firm on its demand to contest 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, with Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut on December 29 stressing that discussions with its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners (Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP) on this count were positive while dismissing suggestions that the party’s vote-bank had disintegrated following the party split last year.
The Sena’s staking claim to contest 23 Lok Sabha seats - four in Mumbai city and two in Thane among them - has already triggered friction with Maharashtra Congress leaders, with former Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam terming the Thackeray faction’s demand as “excessive” given that the Sena (UBT)’s vote-base had been severely fragmented following Eknath Shinde’s revolt last year. The undivided Shiv Sena had won 18 of the 23 seats when it had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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Hitting out at Mr. Nirupam, a miffed Mr. Raut said, “Who is Sanjay Nirupam? What is his importance in the Congress? Does he have a power of attorney to decide on seat-sharing? Who are you to decide that the party has disintegrated In Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh despite their party remaining intact. Our cadre is intact.”
“In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena is the largest party. The Congress is a national party. So, our discussions are on with their national leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal. The dialogue between Uddhav Thackeray and the Congress’ decision makers are going on very well. We do not pay attention to what other people in the streets are saying [alluding to Maharashtra Congress leaders],” said Mr. Raut.
Continuing his attack on Mr. Nirupam, Mr. Raut said despite the Shiv Sena (UBT) allegedly disintegrating, it won the Andheri by-election (in 2022).
“It was with the Sena (UBT)’s help that the Congress could win the Kasba by-election. So, all this talk of our vote-base fragmenting is utter nonsense. We do not give such leaders any importance. The Congress’ high command is in Delhi and we will only communicate with them. We have excellent communication with [Congress national president] Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi,” Mr. Raut said.
The Sena (UBT) leader further said that at INDIA alliance meeting, it was decided that the seats that each of the three MVA parties had won in the 2019 Lok Sabha election would be taken up at a later stage in the seat-sharing discussions.
“We have had discussions with leaders in Delhi and we had fought on 23 seats, won 18. Sambhajinagar we lost by a thin margin. The seats won in 2019 are not up for discussion. They will be deliberated upon later. The Congress does not figure here because they did not win any Lok Sabha seats in 2019. But they are an important constituent of the MVA and hence, we are working together,” he said.
Mr. Raut’s remarks on Mr. Nirupam and State Congress leaders drew sharp criticism from Mumbai Congress leader Milind Deora.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr. Deora said, “According to Sanjay Raut, despite the loss of the Sena (UBT)’s 40 MLAs, he claims it remains the largest party in MVA. He suggests that the Congress should begin negotiations starting with zero seats. He is talking about the party which is the largest opposition party in the Maharashtra Assembly and is leading the opposition. I want to tell Mr. Raut that no alliance can proceed without consultation with the local leadership of Maharashtra. This idea is also supported and supported by All-India Congress Committee.”
On Thursday, Mr. Nirupam, casting aspersions on the Sena (UBT)’s capability to win seats in the upcoming elections, had said no one knew what was the Thackeray-led factions’ core vote-bank was in the current scenario.
“The Shiv Sena’s demand for 23 Lok Sabha seats is too much. If we give you that many seats out of 48 Lok Sabha, then on much how much will we fight. For the past year-and-a-half years, the Shiv Sena has fragmented More than 12 MPs have left them. By contrast, the Congress vote-bank is fixed We have votes, leaders and our cadre,” Mr. Nirupam had said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Raut, speaking on the long-pending induction of Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) into the MVA, said that both NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray were of the opinion that the VBA’s force should be harnessed by the opposition in order to win the elections.
“Even the Congress high command has consented to including the VBA. Prakash Ambedkar’s stance has been that dictatorship must be eliminated from this country. We, too, are fighting towards that end,” Mr. Raut said, adding that currently, discussions with the VBA were in the final stage.
