Mumbai:

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance on Wednesday agreed on the seat-sharing formula in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and it will be announced soon.

He was talking to reporters after the meeting of Congress, NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) here.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest number of seats after Uttar Pradesh (80).

The meeting was attended by Congress leaders Patole, Prithviraj Chavan, Varsha Gaikwad, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leaders Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad and Anil Deshmukh and Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut. A representative of the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) was also present.

Raut said, there will be no more meetings to discuss seat sharing.

“Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, state Congress president Nana Patole and Prakash Ambedkar will meet to give final approval to the deal and it will be announced at a press conference,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

He denied reports that VBA had demanded 27 seats.

“He has given the list of seats where he has been working for many years. We will discuss it,” he said.

There was extensive discussion on each of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, he said, adding, “It is important to win, not who contests how many seats.” Raut said, “Protecting democracy and the Constitution is our agenda and Prakash Ambedkar also shares the same views.”

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP had won 23 Lok Sabha seats in the state, its alliance partner Shiv Sena (which was then undivided) had won 18 seats, the undivided NCP had won four seats while the Congress and AIMIM had won one seat each. . An independent candidate had won one seat.

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