Maharashtra elections: MVA seals seat-sharing deal; Congress, NCP-SP, Shiv Sena (UBT) to fight on 85 seats each

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Congress, Sharad Pawar's NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena in Maharashtra have sealed the seat-sharing deal for the upcoming assembly elections . The three parties have agreed to contest on 85 seats each, the bloc announced on Wednesday.

"We have decided that Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest on 85 seats each," Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and Uddhav Sena's Sanjay Raut told reporters.

"The remaining 18 seats will be decided by tomorrow after talks with our alliance parties including Samajwadi Party," Patole said.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole says, "We've decided that Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest on 85 seats each and on remaining 18 seats, we will have talks with our alliance parties including Samajwadi Party and by… pic.twitter.com/v1pf32Y9bW

— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2024

"We will include Samajwadi Party, PWP, CPI(M), CPI, and AAP. Discussions are still on for the remaining seats. We have amicably arrived at a consensus on 270 seats. MVA stands united to defeat the Mahayuti government," Raut said.

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are scheduled on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.

Meanwhile, the ruling Mahayuti is still in talks to reach a consensus.

In Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was the biggest gainer winning 13 seats - the most by any party. The Shiv Sena (UBT) with 9 and NCP (SP) with 8 together took the MVA tally to 30 out of 48.