MVA allies to contest assembly polls together, say no Big Brother among them

The MVA won 30 out of 48 seats while the ruling alliance could win only 17. The Congress won the most seats (13) and also got the support of MP Vishal Patil who contested the polls as an independent from the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency

MUMBAI: Buoyed by their success in the Lok Sabha elections, the members of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Saturday announced that they would contest the upcoming assembly elections together. The top leaders of the three-party opposition coalition also clarified that there was no “big brother” among them and they would decide on the seat-sharing formula on merit by holding a discussion for every seat. They began the process by holding a primary meeting on Saturday.

Aditya Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Prithviraj Chavan, during MVA joint press conference at YB Centre on Saturday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

The announcement was made in a joint media interaction held by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and senior Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat among others. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole skipped the meet owing to “prior commitments”.

The MVA won 30 out of 48 seats while the ruling alliance could win only 17. The Congress won the most seats (13) and also got the support of MP Vishal Patil who contested the polls as an independent from the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency. Soon after the poll results were announced, Patole declared that the Congress was playing the role of a big brother in the MVA. When asked about this, Chavan clarified that there was no big brother in the coalition and all the three parties were equal.

“I am happy that the public woke up in the Lok Sabha polls and the ‘Modi Sarkar’ has been changed to ‘NDA Sarkar’,” said Thackeray, taking a swipe at the prime minister. “This is not a final victory. In the coming months, assembly elections will be held in several states, and I believe that the situation of the country will improve even further.”

Responding to the BJP’s charge that the MVA had set a fake narrative against the ruling party during the elections, Thackeray questioned, “What was the narrative used by Modi? What about the ‘snatching mangalsutra’ narrative? What about the ‘taking away cows’ narrative? Was it right?” He added that if they were to list all the promises and remarks made by PM Modi since 2014, it would be a lengthy endeavour.

When asked whether those who had left the Shiv Sena would be taken back, Thackeray replied in the negative. Pawar also ruled out the possibility of taking nephew Ajit Pawar back into his party. “No question at all,” he replied. He also took a jibe at Ajit Pawar when informed that the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, had written that the BJP’s brand value had depreciated after taking the Ajit Pawar-led NCP into the ruling alliance. “They must have shared their experience,” he remarked.

On taking the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) along, Thackeray responded, “We will take along even those who fought with us. If someone wants to come along and that too without much hassle, then we will see. Consider this a general statement and not related to a particular party.”

The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief refused to accept the claim that his party failed to get enough Marathi votes, especially in Mumbai. When told that the BJP claimed his party had won only because of the “M factor” (Muslim factor), he quipped, “Isn’t Marathi an M factor? However, I am proud to say that people from all castes and communities voted to save the Constitution. When Mumbai is being looted in broad daylight, do you think Mumbaikars will vote for them? The Marathi manoos will not vote for them even during their sleep.”

The MVA leaders thanked the people of India and Maharashtra for supporting them in the Lok Sabha elections. Thackeray also thanked citizen groups and several YouTube channels for their contribution.