“After the smooth seat-sharing among our allies in LS polls and our big victory in the elections, MVA leaders are now determined to score a bigger victory in the assembly polls and form the government in Maharashtra. We will soon start our assembly seat-sharing talks and it will also be settled amicably,” said a senior MVA leader.
After they won 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, MVA leaders have also decided to keep up the momentum with senior leaders of the alliance and are planning a series of popular outreach steps. The electoral humbling of the BJP, CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Thackeray-led NCP also has opened up the possibility of churning within the BJP’s fragile allies.
It is reliably learnt that seven MLAs of the Shinde-led Shiv sena have reached out to the UBT Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray expressing their desire to return home even if it meant they will have to quit the membership of the state assembly.
“Of the seven MLAs of the Shinde group, who have reached out to return to the UBT Sena, two belong to Mumbai, another two each from Nasik and Vidarbha regions while another is from Jalgaon. While there are two views among the party leaders on these seven MLAs’ request for readmission, Sena Pramukh (Thackeray) will take a final decision on whether or not these seven can be forgiven and allowed to come back. But the fact is the LS results showed who the real Shiv Sainiks are and the people of Maharashtra standing by the party led by Thackeray and rejecting the traitors,” said a senior party leader.Meanwhile the NCP (Sharad Pawar) whose functionary Rohit Pawar last week claimed that about 17 MLAs from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP were in touch with Pawar Sr for returning to NCP (SP) – is learnt to be deciding in favour of readmitting many of these MLAs.While the Sharad Pawar-led party demonstrated its mass base in the Lok Sabha polls by winning eight seats vis-a-vis one seat of the Ajit-led NCP, the party of Pawar Sr is now working to reinforce itself in order to replicate its success in the upcoming assembly polls and, therefore, will throw the net wide open among the restive MLAs of the Ajit pawar-led party, it is learnt.
With the Assembly polls just a few months away, these MLAs are not bothered about quitting their berths in the assembly and changing sides.