Ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing deal under which the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest 21 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress 17 and the NCP (SP) 10 seats in Maharashtra.

The Congress gave up its claim on the contentious Sangli and Bhiwandi seats, which will now be contested by the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP), respectively.

While the Sena (UBT) said the goal of the alliance was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress said it has decided to be “large-hearted” to achieve this objective.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress president Nana Patole announced the poll pact for the 48 parliamentary seats in the state after weeks of hectic negotiations.

Addressing a press conference at `Shivalaya`, the Shiv Sena (UBT) office in south Mumbai, party head and former state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said the seat-sharing deal has been reached and in an alliance, winning is important and defeating the BJP is the goal.

“When victory against the BJP is the larger goal, we have to set aside certain differences,” he said when asked about the Shiv Sena (UBT) refusing to give Sangli seat to the Congress.

Thackeray said there was a strange coincidence of “surya grahan” (solar eclipse), “amavasya” (new moon) and the BJP rally on the same day (Monday).

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s speech yesterday was not that of a prime minister. When we respond, please don`t take it as an insult of the prime minister. Our criticism will be about a leader of a corrupt party,” Thackeray said to a query on Modi referring to his party as “fake Shiv Sena”.

“It is not right for a leader of the party of extortionists to call us fake,” he said.

The BJP is a “party of extortionists” and this was seen after the electoral bonds “scam” was exposed, Thackeray claimed.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said his party has decided to be “large-hearted” to achieve the final goal of defeating PM Modi and the BJP.
The Congress workers will fight the BJP and ensure victory of the MVA candidates in Sangli and Bhiwandi, he said.

“Our workers will never forget how the BJP ill-treated our leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” he said.

Patole said the parties of Thackeray and Sharad Pawar were “hijacked” by rebels. “Leaders of both the original parties are with us and Modi calls the Uddhav Thackeray-led party as fake Shiv Sena,” he said.

As part of the deal, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has got Jalgaon, Parbhani, Nashik, Palghar, Kalyan, Thane, Raigad, Maval, Osmanabad, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Buldhana, Hathkanangkale, Aurangabad, Shirdi, Sangli, Hingoli, Yavatmal-Washim, Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North West and Mumbai North East seats.

The Congress has got Nandurbar, Dhule, Akola, Amravati, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Chandrapur, Nanded, Jalna, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai North, Pune, Latur, Solapur, Kolhapur and Ramtek seats.

The NCP(SP) will contest Baramati, Shirur, Satara, Bhiwandi, Dindori, Madha, Raver, Wardhan, Ahmednagar South and Beed seats.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress president Nana Patole announced the poll pact for the 48 parliamentary seats in the state at a press conference here after weeks of negotiations.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh. Known for its political diversity and significant electoral influence, Maharashtra plays a crucial role in shaping national politics.

In the 2019 elections, the BJP emerged as the largest party with 23 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena (undivided) with 18 seats.

Meanwhile, a total of 204 candidates are in the fray for eight Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra that will go to polls in the second phase on April 26, an official said on Monday, reported PTI.

Monday was the last date for withdrawal of nominations, he added.

“There were 299 valid nominations. Of these 204 remain in the fray in Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani,” he said, reported PTI.

In Parbhani, seven candidates withdrew their nomination forms, leaving 34 contestants in the fray, an official said, reported PTI.

Ruling alliance candidate Mahadev Jankar, who is also president of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, has been allotted the symbol `whistle`, he added. Jankar will take on MP Sanjay Jadhav of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Panjabrao Dakh (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi), reported PTI.

In Hingoli, a total of 33 candidates will fight the polls after 15 Independents withdrew their nominations.

The main contest will be between Baburao Kadam of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

(With inputs from PTI)

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