Maharashtra polls: SP waits for MVA response on seat demand, will take final call soon

India News

The SP has announced candidates for 9 seats, and if discussions progress in the right direction, their names will be withdrawn, sources said. The deadline for the withdrawal of candidates’ names is November 4.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. ([Photo: TV9 Network)

New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP) is awaiting a response on seat-sharing pact from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance as the Maharashtra Assembly Elections draw closer. The SP has announced candidates for 9 seats, and if discussions progress in the right direction, their names will be withdrawn, sources said. The deadline for the withdrawal of candidates’ names is November 4.

The Congress wants the SP candidates to withdraw their names from 7 seats. Most of the candidates come from the Muslim community.

Earlier on October 30, a senior SP leader said they were expecting five seats from Maha Vikas Aghadi, but till October 29 nothing was resolved and so 9 of the SP candidates filed their nomination papers.

The SP is upset with the MVA coalition and is set to break away if its demands are not fulfilled. The party was given two seats as an MVA partner. Sources said that SP would stay in the alliance only if they get a minimum of four.

Demand and rift

The SP had bagged two seats — Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar and Bhiwandi East — of the seven it fought on in the last assembly elections, and had demanded five seats for the November 20 elections. However, the MVA gave it only two seats, that too only those won by the party in 2019. This has sparked rift in the alliance.

The friction started when SP chief Akhilesh Yadav announced candidates for five seats — Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, Bhiwandi East, Bhiwandi West, Malegaon Central and Dhule City. The MVA alliance partners did not like this move.

Earlier, the SP supremo had said that the Congress should take it into confidence before releasing its list of candidates and requested that a decision on seat-sharing be taken soon. On October 26, the Congress announced its third list of 16 candidates for the upcoming elections. Its first list included 48 candidates, and the second list had 23 candidates.

Tirtho Banerjee

Tirtho has 28 years of experience as a media professional. He has worked in a number of media organisations, including India Today, The Times of India, The Telegraph, Down To Earth, Hindustan Times, Muscat Daily and Khaleej Times, in key roles. He has five poetry collections under his belt, and is working on his next book on short stories.

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