The BJP on Monday dubbed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as a dying alliance, even as the three major constituents of the alliance kept debating who is the "big brother" of the alliance.
While Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar, comparing their count in the assembly with that of the Congress, said that the NCP is the "big brother", Nana Patole of the Congress indicated that the Shiv Sena (UBT) would get only about 10-12 Lok Sabha seats even as Sanjay Raut said that his party won’t settle for anything less than 19.
The BJP took a dig at the drama saying that the alliance came into being only for greed of power and that its a dying alliance.
BJP adds fuel to fire
“They are talking about each other’s power instead of addressing the people’s issues,” state BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, adding that they know that they can’t survive without each other but, at the same time they are compelled to compete with each other for survival. This has rendered MVA a dying alliance,” Upadhye said.
On Sunday, NCP’s Ajit Pawar had said that since his party has 54 MLAs and the Congress has 44 MLAs his party is the ‘big brother’ of the alliance. Replying to him, the Congress said it has fathered the NCP and hence there is no point discussing who is the big brother. The Congress, at the same time tried to cut Shiv Sena (UBT) to size saying that each party should get seats in proportion to their established strength and that winnability should be the criteria for seat sharing.
Shiv Sena says people still committed to Uddhav Thackeray
Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Adv Anil Parab, however, said that though a faction which sought votes in the name of Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray has separated from the party, people still recognise the Shiv Sena and are committed to Uddhav Thackeray.
According to the formula suggested by the Congress, the Congress-NCP would get about 75-78% seats and the Shiv Sena (UBT) would get 22-25%. In terms of the 48 Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra, this translates to 36-38 seats for the Congress-NCP and 10-12 for the Shiv Sena (UBT).
