The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has remained firm on its demand to contest 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, with Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut on December 29 stressing that discussions with its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners (Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP) on this count were positive while dismissing suggestions that the party’s vote-bank had disintegrated following the party split last year.
The Sena’s staking claim to contest 23 Lok Sabha seats - four in Mumbai city and two in Thane among them - has already triggered friction with Maharashtra Congress leaders, with former Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam terming the Thackeray faction’s demand as “excessive” given that the Sena (UBT)’s vote-base had been severely fragmented following Eknath Shinde’s revolt last year. The undivided Shiv Sena had won 18 of the 23 seats when it had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Hitting out at Mr. Nirupam, a miffed Mr. Raut said, “Who is Sanjay Nirupam? What is his importance in the Congress? Does he have a power of attorney to decide on seat-sharing? Who are you to decide that the party has disintegrated In Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh despite their party remaining intact. Our cadre is intact.”
