"Congress an ally but...": Sanjay Raut on seat-sharing challenges within INDIA bloc

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 18 : In preparation for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections on November 20, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut announced on Friday that he plans to discuss seat-sharing arrangements with Rahul Gandhi for the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and noted that there were many seats on which decisions remained pending.
Sanjay Raut said that most of the leaders of Maharashtra are not capable of taking decisions and said, "Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena are in the alliance, Samajwadi Party, Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) are also there. They have to send the list to Delhi again and again. Now that time has passed. We want this decision to be taken as soon as possible.
Addressing the media on seat-sharing among Maha Vikas Aghadi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut says, "I have spoken to Mukul Wasnik in the morning. Today I will also speak to Rahul Gandhi and the pending decision regarding seat sharing will be expedited. Decisions have been taken on many seats. There are some seats on which a decision is not being taken."
Adding further, he said, "There is no major difference of opinion between NCP and Shiv Sena, not even in Congress but there are some seats on which all three parties claim. Nana Patole is our ally in Maharashtra, but there is a problem on some seats, it will be resolved."
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also attacked the BJP, stating, "People like me have gone to jail and come back, we know who the targets are and what the BJP will do."
Raut likened the BJP's tactics to those of the "Bishnoi gang," claiming they use agencies like the CBI and ED as weapons against their opponents.
Raut emphasized that despite facing such challenges, they remain resolute in standing up to the BJP. The UBT Sena MP also took a dig at the election comssion claiming that they were biased.
"The Election Commission has given some important decisions, and we feel that those decisions are against the interests of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and will help Shinde and the BJP. The Election Commission and the Supreme Court are not neutral. They are the B, C and D teams of the BJP," he said.
Assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday (October 15, 2024). With this, the political parties have begun gearing up for an election that will be unprecedented in many ways.
In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Congress and unified Shiv Sena had won 154 out of 288 seats as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
However, this time around the Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar's NCP and Congress are in alliance to counter the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.
In the Lok Sabha election held this year, MVA won 30 of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats. The ruling alliance won 17. One seat went to an Independent candidate.