The dispute over seat sharing between Congress and Shiv Sena UBT, which are part of Maha Vikas Aghadi for Maharashtra Assembly elections, has come out in the open. According to sources, Congress can get around 110 seats, out of which it has to adjust the Samajwadi Party. Congress claimed that there was no dispute in Maha Vikas Aghadi, and the alliance was united.
However, on the Congress party’s stand on the seats where there is a problem with the Shiv Sena Uddhav faction, the leadership has entrusted the task to state Congress President Nana Patole to work in harmony with the allies. It may be noted that there is a dispute between Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray faction over some seats of Vidarbha. Both parties are staking their claim on these seats. The Uddhav faction says that Shiv Sena UBT had left Vidarbha seats for Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. Now Congress should compromise on these.
Who is Nana?
Nana Patole has made a special place for himself in the politics of the Maharashtra Congress and was given the command of the party due to being counted among the close leaders of Rahul Gandhi. Nana entered politics during his student life, and in the 90s, he contested and won the election of a Zila Panchayat member for the first time. After this, Nana Patole did not look back and kept touching newer political heights. When Congress did not give him a ticket, he contested as an independent and reached Parliament by defeating NCP veteran Praful Patel on a BJP ticket, but he later resigned and returned home to Congress.
In 2019, the Mahavikas Aghadi government was formed under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, which also included Congress, Shiv Sena, and NCP Nana, who was elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Nana is known for raising the issue of farmers in Maharashtra politics, and he represents the OBC Kunbi community of Vidarbha. While he was the Speaker, he was also given the responsibility of the party’s state unit chief. However, when Nana formed his team as the Congress state president, there were protests at that time. He did not give much importance to the North Indian people in the state committee, and only two people were given a place. The Hindi-speaking community, which is considered a strong vote bank of the Congress, was also ignored by Patole’s team. Not only this, the Shiv Sena UTB has also been angry with Nana due to his insistence to go alone on several occasions while ignoring the Alliance sentiments.
Now that the Assembly polls are to be held in the state and the MVA is brainstorming over seat-sharing, tensions emerged, which resulted in a verbal spat between Patole and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. It is worth noting here that such a spat will be harmful for the Alliance, which is set to face a tough challenge from the BJP and its allies. Here Nana must not forget that making the partners angry will only hamper the Congress party’s prospects, which has recently tasted defeat at the hands of the BJP in Haryana. The Congress party’s defeat in Haryana has made it vulnerable in the eyes of its allies, and thus it cannot boss around over seat sharing in Maharashtra.
