Mumbai: The Congress on Tuesday expressed displeasure over Uddhav Thackeray ‘unilaterally’ announcing Shiv Sena (UBT) candidates for the legislative council elections in the Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers’ constituencies. State Congress president Nana Patole claimed Thackeray had selected a candidate finalised by the Congress for the Nashik Teachers’ constituency without consulting coalition partners.
“Uddhav Thackeray announced the candidates for the Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers constituencies without holding any discussions with us. We expected that the candidates and seats will be finalised only after holding deliberations with [Maha Vikas Aghadi] constituents,” Patole told reporters.
The Congress leader said he had asked Thackeray to withdraw the Shiv Sena (UBT) nominees from these two constituencies. Patole claimed he had attempted to contact Thackeray when the candidates were announced, but the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief was abroad. “I had hoped that the announcement of candidates would be made after discussing it with us,” he said.
According to Patole, the Congress had finalised the candidature of Sandeep Gulve for the Nashik Teachers’ constituency and informed Thackeray, but the latter inducted Gulve into Shiv Sena (UBT) without any discussions and fielded him as their candidate. “I only want to say that if we collectively decide the seat-sharing formula on these four MLC seats, it would become easier for all of us to win,” he added.
