In Mumbai on Friday, the leaders of the State Congress Committee held a review meeting to shortlist the possible seats for the Lok Sabha elections and to estimate the strength of the Congress on those seats. In the meeting, the Congressmen indicated that the MVA should remain united and the opposition parties would fight the upcoming elections together. In the marathon meeting on the first day of this two-day review, 24 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra were reviewed. After the meeting, apart from Congress State President Nana Patole, former Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan, and Prithviraj Chavan spoke to the media. The attitude of all the big leaders of the Congress was visible to contest the elections together as MVA. Patole said that the common goal of the MVA would be to defeat the BJP in the elections. At the same time, Ashok Chavan said that the basis of seat sharing in MVA will be the ability to win the seat. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the way the MVA was ousted from power, there was a lot of resentment among the public.
Patole said that at the organizational level, Congress is strong in all the 48 Lok Sabha seats. Congress is reviewing all 48 seats but there will be no problem in negotiating seat sharing. We are discussing the strategy to win maximum seats. Our primary objective is to defeat BJP. Congress is the only alternative to BJP at the national level. Patole said that while considering seat sharing, the views of MVA’s allies Left parties, Samajwadi Party, and Shekap will also be taken into consideration.
Ashok Chavan said that the Congress is a national organization and the party will decide on the number of Lok Sabha seats it wants to contest in the state based on the workers’ feedback. We want to ensure that the seat-sharing talks take place in a positive atmosphere and by the prevailing political situation. Chavan said senior Congress MLAs who have been winning their assembly seats continuously three-four times will be considered for tickets for the Lok Sabha polls. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that there is huge public anger over how the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was ousted from power in Maharashtra in June last year. A two-day review meeting for all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra assesses the political situation and the impact of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Rahul Gandhi and the victory in neighboring Karnataka on the ground politics in Maharashtra Its being done.
He said the fight in the next elections would be between the MVA and the BJP-Shinde alliance. The seat-sharing between Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena (UBT) is a bit tricky, but all the constituents want the MVA to stay. Chavan said that the State Parliamentary Board will analyze the report of this two-day meeting and after the process, a meeting of MVA leaders will be held to discuss the strategy involved.