Mumbai: As Maharashtra gears up for the 2024 Assembly elections, key political developments are unfolding among the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance. Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat recently met with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to finalize the seat-sharing agreement within the coalition. These talks, involving Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), have reached their final stages, with most of the 288 assembly seats already agreed upon.
According to Thorat, the focus remains on around 50 to 60 undecided seats, with discussions expected to conclude shortly. Congress President Nana Patole indicated that there is no major disagreement among the allies, reaffirming the unity of the MVA amidst rumors of discord. NCP leaders, including Anil Deshmukh, have also confirmed that approximately 15% of the seats are still under deliberation, primarily in the Vidarbha region.
As the MVA finalizes its strategy, Uddhav Thackeray reiterated his willingness to support any chief ministerial candidate proposed by Congress or NCP, emphasizing the need to “save Maharashtra” from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition. Meanwhile, the BJP, in alliance with the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, has already released a list of candidates for the elections, with polling scheduled for November 20 and counting set for November 23.
With only a few weeks left before the elections, both the ruling coalition and the MVA are intensifying their efforts to secure victory in what is shaping up to be a highly contested battle for Maharashtra’s political future
