Mumbai: In a crucial meeting ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and the Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his two deputy chief ministers, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, met at the Varsha Bungalow on Tuesday night to finalise their strategy and seat-sharing arrangements.
According to Deputy CM Fadnavis, who addressed the media after the meeting, the three leaders discussed which candidate of which party will contest from which constituency and which seat will go to which alliance partner. He said that the names of the Rajya Sabha nominees will be announced at the appropriate time.
The meeting was attended by all the prominent leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress. The MVA has a comfortable majority in the state assembly and is expected to win at least four out of the seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra.
The meeting also focused on the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, which are likely to be held in April-May. The MVA is hoping to repeat its stellar performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when it won 41 out of the 48 seats in the state. The alliance partners are likely to stick to the same formula of seat-sharing, with the Shiv Sena contesting 23 seats, the NCP 19 and the Congress 6.
The meeting comes amid the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s farm laws, which has received the support of the MVA. The alliance has also been vocal in its criticism of the BJP-led central government over various issues, such as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising fuel prices and the alleged interference in the state’s affairs.
The MVA leaders have expressed confidence that the people of Maharashtra will vote for them in the upcoming elections, citing their good governance and pro-people policies. They have also accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the MVA government and indulging in divisive politics.
