MVA’s seat-sharing mechanism, candidates to be announced in a day or two for the Lok Sabha elections: Chief of the Maharashtra Congress, Patole

The Maha Vikas Aghadi’s list of candidates for the next Lok Sabha elections and its seat-sharing formula would be revealed in a day or two, according to Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Thursday.

The Congress, the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), and the Shiv Sena (UBT), headed by Uddhav Thackeray, make up the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

With 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra has the second-highest number in the nation, after Uttar Pradesh’s 80.

Following a meeting of MVA leaders at the home of NCP(SP) chairman Sharad Pawar, Patole told reporters that the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress in Delhi has finalized 12 candidates.

He said, “We are talking with our allies and will make the list public in a day or two.”

For the meeting, Patole and Balasaheb Thorat, the head of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), who was in Delhi for their party’s CEC meeting, had traveled back to Mumbai.

The gathering at Pawar’s home was also attended by party leader Jitendra Awhad and state president of the NCP (SP), Jayant Patil.

The head of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Prakash Ambedkar, criticized the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) on Tuesday for their “unequal attitude” toward his party and threw his support behind the Congress for seven Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

According to him, the VBA’s request to Congress is a “extension of a friendly hand” for a potential future partnership as well as a “goodwill” gesture.

The grandson of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar, has already declared his intention to run as a VBA nominee for the Lok Sabha from the Akola constituency.

For the Lok Sabha elections, the VBA has been considering collaborating with the three MVA allies.

Maharashtra’s elections for the 48 Lok Sabha seats are scheduled on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20. Votes will be tallied on June 4.