The seat allocation talks are in the final stages without encountering any hurdles and the seats deal shall be sealed next week, AICC said…reports Asian Lite News
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will finalise its seat-sharing deal for the 48 Lok Sabha seats at its final meeting on February 27-28, AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala said here on Thursday.
The seat allocation talks with the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), and other allies are in the final stages without encountering any hurdles and the seats deal shall be sealed next week, he asserted.
On Wednesday, NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar had announced in Kolhapur that the allocation of 39 constituencies has been finalised and the remaining 9 seats shall be completed by the weekend.
Speaking to media persons along with state Congress President Nana Patole, Mumbai chief Prof. Varsha Gaikwad and other senior leaders, Chennithala reiterated that the MVA is going strong and will strive to win maximum number of seats in the state. “Discussions with all friendly parties are proceeding smoothly. We have accepted all the points for the manifesto suggested by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi President Prakash Ambedkar,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Patole said that as the elections approach, the Opposition parties and their leaders are being systematically targeted through various central investigation agencies, but no action is initiated against BJP leaders facing serious corruption charges.
He cited the instances of former MVA leaders like Ajit Pawar, Ashok S. Chavan, who faced allegations in various scams but after they joined hands with the BJP, they have been rewarded in different ways.
Patole said that “the BJP is claiming to win 400 seats in the next Lok Sabha polls, but of its current 303 MPs, 165 are from different opposition parties, including 67 from Congress who were accused of corruption by the BJP but are now shielded by the same BJP”.
Compared with 2019, the state political spectrum has become very crowded in 2024, with an array of parties expected to be in the fray, confounding the already confused scenario.
Two major parties have split vertically – the original Shiv Sena and the NCP, besides the parting of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and AIMIM, which were allies in the last Lok Sabha polls.
The housefull scenario includes the MVA’s three main partners, plus their half-dozen other constituents; the ruling MahaYuti of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party and their supporters; plus Independents and smaller parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which may or may not ally with any other group.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha, the BJP won 23 seats, the Shiv Sena (undivided) bagged 18 when they had contested as allies, while the NCP (undivided) won four seats, and the Congress, AIMIM and an Independent bagged one seat each.
This time, both — the divided Shiv Sena and NCP — are going to contest as separate entities, but the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (Sharad Pawar) will also enter the fray with new and untested symbols.
New Symbol Allotted to NCP-Pawar
The Election Commission of India allotted the ‘Man blowing Turha’ symbol to the Nationalist Congress Party–Sharadchandra Pawar.
“Accordingly, the Commission has already allotted the name “Nationalist Congress Party–Sharadchandra Pawar” to the group led by Sharad Pawar (respondent) as per the Commission’s Final Order dated February 6, 2024, in Dispute Case No. 2 of 2023, till further orders by the Supreme Court in the matter. Further, as per the request received, “Man Blowing Turha” is allotted to the group/party in all the parliamentary constituencies in the State of Maharashtra,” the order from the ECI said.
After the announcement, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar posted on X that the new symbol with the thoughts of the idols of Maharashtra will shake the throne of the central government.
“In the history of Maharashtra, Chhatrapati Shiv Rai’s valor, the Trumpet, which set the ears of the throne of Delhi, is a matter of pride for the ‘Nationalist Congress Party – Sharad Chandra Pawar’ today. With the progressive thoughts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the idol of Maharashtra, Phule, Shahu, Ambedkar, and respected ‘Tutari’ is ready to blow the trumpet once again to shake the throne of Delhi along with Sharad Chandra Pawar saheb!” the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the interim order by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that allowed veteran leader Sharad Pawar to use ‘Nationalist Congress Party–Sharad Chandra Pawar’ would continue till further orders.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Vishwanathan also allowed Sharad Pawar to approach the ECI for symbol allocation and said that it would be allotted within one week of filing the application.
It further issued notice to the Ajit Pawar faction and ECI on the plea of Sharad Pawar against the order of the poll panel officially recognising the Ajit Pawar faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The bench sought a response from them within two weeks and posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.
On February 6, the poll panel, while applying the test of majority in the legislative wing, ruled that Ajit Pawar’s faction was the real NCP and permitted the faction to use the ‘clock’ symbol for the party.
In its order, the Election Commission had noted that the total number of NCP MLAs in the Maharashtra State Assembly stood at 81 and out of this, Ajit Pawar submitted affidavits of 57 MLAs in his support while Sharad Pawar had only 28 affidavits. (ANI)
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