NASHIK: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday reiterated that his party is firm on fielding candidates on 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
This leaves just 25 seats for Sena (UBT)’s other partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar).
Talking to reporters in Nashik, Raut said the party’s insistence on contesting 23 seats is based on its strength in these constituencies as well as winnability of its candidates.Raut said the seat-sharing talks between the MVA partners will take place in Mumbai on Thursday. He said the issue of including Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi in MVA will also be discussed and VBA president Prakash Ambedkar has been invited for Thursday’s meeting.
Attacking the NDA government for ‘using’ central agencies against opposition leaders, Raut said: “BJP is using government machinery like ED against those opposition party leaders who are fighting against the saffron party. The ED probe against NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar and other opposition leaders is part of this.”
This leaves just 25 seats for Sena (UBT)’s other partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar).
Talking to reporters in Nashik, Raut said the party’s insistence on contesting 23 seats is based on its strength in these constituencies as well as winnability of its candidates.Raut said the seat-sharing talks between the MVA partners will take place in Mumbai on Thursday. He said the issue of including Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi in MVA will also be discussed and VBA president Prakash Ambedkar has been invited for Thursday’s meeting.
Attacking the NDA government for ‘using’ central agencies against opposition leaders, Raut said: “BJP is using government machinery like ED against those opposition party leaders who are fighting against the saffron party. The ED probe against NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar and other opposition leaders is part of this.”
He alleged that CM Eknath Shinde and 40 MLAs rebelled against Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray because of the fear of ED action against them.