New Delhi: A week after Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a drubbing in Maharashtra Assembly elections, a senior leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) has alleged that the “overconfidence” of Congress in Maharashtra and its “attitude” while seat-sharing discussions were conducted dented the prospects of the Opposition bloc in the polls. The Mahayuti, led by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) scored a landslide victory in the election, winning 230 seats in the 288-member Assembly.
‘MVA should have projected Uddhav Thackeray as CM face’
Ambadas Danve, Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council, pointed out that the MVA should have projected Uddhav Thackeray as the alliance’s Chief Minister face.
Talking to reporters, Danve said, “After the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress became overconfident in Maharashtra, like their attitude in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. This showed in the results. Their approach during seat-sharing negotiations hurt us. Uddhav ji should have been projected as the Chief Minister candidate. As this was not done, it affected our prospects. The outcome would have been different had this been done.” Taking an indirect swipe at the Congress, Danve said, “They were getting ready with suit and tie even before the results.”
The Congress secured 13 seats in the Lok Sabha election months ago, the highest among MVA allies. Driven by the good show, the state Congress unit, led by Nana Patole, demanded an upper hand in the seat-sharing deal ahead of the state polls. They wanted more seats and this caused internal rift in the alliance. The Congress eventually contested 103 seats but won just 16. The Sena (UBT), which contested 89 seats, could bag only 20. Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction fought on 87 seats and could win only 10.
Danve noted that while some candidates from Sena (UBT) highlighted the organisational aspect, they did not name any particular party. He that Sena (UBT) will focus on strengthening itself to a level where it can contest all 288 seats in the state.
