Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday ruled out any dispute in Maha Vikas Aghadi on any of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra as the three constituents discussed seat-sharing along with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi for the upcoming polls.
Speaking to reporters after attending the meeting, Raut said details of the seat-sharing formula will be announced jointly by MVA members, but refused to assign any timeline.
MVA constituents - Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) - have been holding hectic parleys for the last several days to reach a consensus on the allocation of seats.
"There is no dispute even on a single seat out of 48 among the MVA constituents. We also had a very positive discussion with Prakash Ambedkar. He is also satisfied with our stand to oust the authoritarian regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Raut said.
When asked about details of the discussions, he said Ambedkar had given us a proposal which was discussed positively.
Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Jitendra Awhad (NCP-SP) and Ambedkar were present at the meeting among others, Raut said, adding that there is no difference of opinions among the allies.
"The details of the seat-sharing formula will be announced jointly by all the MVA members. No one will make any separate announcements regarding it," he added.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole had said that the seat-sharing formula of the MVA is likely to be finalised in the meeting of its leaders in Mumbai.
Though Rahut sought to present a united front, Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar, has already declared candidates for Sangli and Wardha Lok Sabha constituencies, traditionally contested by Congress.
Notably, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress are both keen to contest the Kolhapur constituency in western Maharashtra. Mumbai South Central constituency is also emerging as a flash point between the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and Congress.
According to political analysts, the three MVA allies want to keep Ambedkar on their side to avoid any possibility of vote division.
Ahead of the MVA meeting, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat separately met Ambedkar to hold talks.
Although the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) failed to win even a single Lok Sabha or assembly seat in the 2019 elections, the vote split it caused underscored the party's nuisance value, prompting the three MVA allies to invite Ambedkar for talks and negotiate a deal, political analysts said.
In the 2019 elections, a candidate fielded by Ambedkar queered the pitch for Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan, leading to his defeat from the home turf Nanded.
The VBA candidate secured more than 1.60 lakh votes. The division of votes apparently went in favour of Chavan's rival from the BJP, who won by a margin of nearly 40,000 votes, the analysts pointed out.
In 2019, the undivided Shiv Sena had won 18 seats from Maharashtra. The party is firm on contesting the same number of seats in the 2024 elections as well.
Raut has already hinted at Shiv Sena (UBT)'s willingness to exchange some seats, but the party is unlikely to compromise on the number of constituencies from where it wants to fight.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena (undivided) had jointly won 41 of the 48 seats in the 2019 elections, while 4 seats were bagged by the NCP (undivided). The Congress and AIMIM emerged victorious on one seat each; the Amravati seat was won by Independent MP Navneet Rana.
