Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar call the shots in MVA’s seat-sharing deal as ceding of Sangli reflects waning Congress influence

Mr. Thackeray’s faction of the Sena, which was left with only 16 MLAs and five MPs after its split in 2022, got its way in the seat-sharing deal, with the decision to contest 21 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the State

MVA constituents disclosed the details of their seat-sharing agreement on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: ANI

As Maharashtra’s Opposition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, formalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha election after two months of parleys and wrangling on Tuesday, the deal saw Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) — a regional entity — overshadowing the Congress, a national party.

Mr. Thackeray’s faction of the Sena, which was left with only 16 MLAs and five MPs after its split in 2022, got its way in the seat-sharing deal, with the decision to contest 21 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the State. Despite having 44 legislators (the largest number of MLAs among the three MVA parties), the Congress could claim only 17 seats, while Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) has bagged 10 seats.

The ceding of the Sangli Lok Sabha seat in western Maharashtra to the Shiv Sena (UBT), despite the latter having hardly any presence in the constituency, has become symptomatic of the resentment among the Congress cadre while bringing into sharp relief the failure of the the party’s collective leadership to strike a harder bargain in staking claim to its erstwhile bastions.

The seat-sharing arrangement also reflects the waning of the Congress’ influence in the ‘sugar heartland’ of western Maharashtra, comprising Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Solapur districts. This influence was manifested by stalwarts like Y.B. Chavan and Vasantdada Patil, who helmed the party in the State for decades.

In western Maharashtra, a thunderous silence fell over Congress party office in Sangli after the seat was officially ceded to the Sena (UBT), which has fielded neophyte Chandrahar Patil, a wrestler.

The resentment within younger Congressmen like Vishwajeet Kadam, the MLA of Palus-Kadegaon (in Sangli) and Vishal Patil, the aspirant for the Sangli seat, is palpable, with both leaders primed for rebellion, said sources. The yielding of Sangli has been especially demoralising for the party cadre, given that Mr. Vishal Patil is the grandson of late CM Vasantdada Patil and that Sangli still has a large body of the Patil family’s followers.

By the MVA’s arrangement, the Congress has now been largely confined to parts of the Vidarbha region and the erstwhile Khandesh province, where the majority of the 17 seats the party will be contesting on are concentrated.

Given that this is the first time the MVA will be contesting a major election, the seat-sharing exercise also brought painful questions to the fore, like whether the alliance with the Shiv Sena in 2019 was worth the price for the Congress. Already, intense resentment within the party has seen it lose leaders like Milind Deora and Sanjay Nirupam, while former CM Ashok Chavan had earlier switched to the BJP.

On Tuesday, the Congress lost its Mumbai spokesperson Raju Waghmare, who while joining CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena wondered aloud if the Congress was actually functioning under the directions of the Sena (UBT).

‘No leader of stature’

“Both the Sangli and the Bhiwandi seats were declared unilaterally by the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) respectively even as talks were on. Despite the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) being atrophied by vertical splits, they have tall leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar who are claiming the plum seats they want for their factions. The Congress, in contrast, has no single leader of their stature to negotiate firmly with them,” said senior political analyst Vivek Bhavsar.

Sangli has been a Congress bastion for more than half a century since 1962. A three-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Vasantdada Patil was one of the tallest political leaders that western Maharashtra — and the State — produced, and one who dominated the cooperative sector scene in western Maharashtra for several decades from his base in Sangli.

After his death in 1989, the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency was held for 25 consecutive years by the house of Mr. Patil.

“Such are the political vicissitudes that today, Vasantdada’s grandson Vishal Patil has to run from pillar to post to get a ticket. If the decision is not reserved, then we urge Vishal to contest as an Independent. Either way, there will be no campaigning for the Sena (UBT)’s Chandrahar Patil,” said a Congress leader from Sangli.

Like Sangli, the neighbouring Satara had been a Congress stronghold for over 40 years, barring a brief period in the late 1990s when it had a Shiv Sena MP. However, the Congress’ alliance with Sharad Pawar’s (undivided) NCP after 1999 saw the latter party dominating the sugar belt. In 2009, Mr. Pawar fielded Maratha royal Udayanraje Bhosale (now in the BJP) who won the Satara Lok Sabha on an NCP ticket.

Since then, Satara has remained an NCP stronghold, with senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan being the sole MLA from Karad South in Satara.

“The Congress has seen a string of weak State leaders who have failed to live up to the aspirations of the cadre. The Congress leaders appointed for Maharashtra like K.C. Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik are equally to blame for failing to be firm with the other MVA partners,” said Mr. Bhavsar.