Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Shiv Sena UBT Eyes 20 Seats; Appoints Coordinators In 18 Constituencies Amid Ongoing Talks With MVA Partners

Mumbai: Despite ongoing negotiations among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray proceeded with appointing coordinators for 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra on Monday. However, a concrete seat-sharing formula is yet to be finalised among the four coalition partners.

Vinayak Raut, an MP from the Thackeray faction, revealed that this initial list comprises coordinators for 18 constituencies, with plans for four to five more appointments in the pipeline. The party intends to contest over 20 seats in the upcoming elections.

Sena UBT's Plans For Mumbai

In Mumbai, the Shiv Sena UBT is gearing up to contest for four seats: Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai South Central, and South Mumbai. Historically, the undivided Shiv Sena clinched victory in three of Mumbai's six Lok Sabha constituencies during the 2019 elections. However, the Thackeray faction now claims an additional seat, Mumbai North East, traditionally held by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

While Arvind Sawant from Mumbai South remains aligned with Thackeray, Gajanan Kirtikar from Mumbai North West and Rahul Shewale from Mumbai South Central have allied with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction.

Speculations Over Kalyan Seat

Surprisingly, the names of Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency and Hatkangale are absent from the initial list. Kalyan, currently represented by CM Shinde's son, Shrikant Shinde, was previously won by the party in 2019. Some news reports suggest that the party might leave the Hatkangale seat to farmer leader Raju Shetti.

“The name of Hatkangale is also not on the list and the party is likely to leave that seat to farmer leader Raju Shetti,” a Sena UBT leader told the Hindustan Times.

Leaders of the MVA, comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, Sharad Pawar's NCP faction and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, have engaged in seat-sharing discussions for over a month. However, consensus on the distribution of seats remains elusive.