INDI Alliance Addresses Seat Division Dispute, 9 Seats Remain Under Discussion

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 28th Feb. In the opposition parties’ India alliance, which was formed ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the issue of seat sharing appears to be gradually resolved. In UP, Congress and SP have come to an understanding. Deals on seats in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Goa, and Chandigarh were finalized by the Congress and AAP. There are discussions in West Bengal. Congress is currently working to finalize a seat-sharing agreement with NCP Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT), allies of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, in Maharashtra as well. Congress, Sharad Pawar’s party, and Shiv Sena (UBT) have reached an understanding on 39 of the 48 Maharashtra seats. On the other hand, negotiations over nine seats are still ongoing. Eight of these seats are thought to be the focus of a fierce battle between the three parties.

Following a conversation between Congressman Rahul Gandhi and alliance leaders Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, the India Alliance came to an agreement on seat sharing. The South Central and North West Mumbai Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra are among the seats in the Lok Sabha where there is a rivalry between the INDIA Alliance’s constituent parties, according to sources. Congress and the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, are vying for these two seats.

On the other hand, Prakash Ambedkar, leader of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) from INDIA Alliance, has demanded five seats. There is a tussle between the coalition parties on this also. According to sources, the remaining three parties of the alliance are ready to give two seats to Prakash Ambedkar. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Vanchit Aghadi had fielded candidates on 47 seats but could not win even one. Even in the assembly elections, Vanchit Aghadi had contested 234 seats out of 288 but could not even open its account anywhere. Although VBA had secured 6.92% votes in the Lok Sabha elections, it had got 4.6 per cent votes in the Assembly elections. The big thing is that Vanchit Aghadi stood second in 10 assembly seats.

Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena are staking their claims on two Lok Sabha seats of Mumbai, South-Central Mumbai and North-West Mumbai. In the last elections, Gajanan Kirtikar of Shiv Sena had won the election from North-West Mumbai, while Sanjay Nirupam of Congress came second. Gajanan has now joined Eknath Shinde’s camp. Therefore, Congress is staking its claim on this seat, while Uddhav does not want to give up his claim considering it to be Shiv Sena’s seat.

Similarly, Shiv Sena’s Rahul Ramesh Shewale had won from the South-Central Mumbai seat in 2019, which has now joined the Shinde camp. There too, Congress candidate Eknath Mahadev Gaikwad was in second place. Therefore, Congress is staking its claim here also on the basis of the same logic. It is believed that in a day or two the issue of allotting the remaining nine seats and the seat to the deprived Bahujan Aghadi can be resolved.

Rahul Gandhi has already tied up with the Samajwadi Party on 17 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this, an agreement has been made with Aam Aadmi Party on three out of seven seats in Delhi. In West Bengal too, talks with Mamata Banerjee on seat sharing for 42 Lok Sabha seats are in the final stages. Banerjee has offered two seats to Congress.