Pune: In the midst of an ongoing seat-sharing dispute between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the absence of both city chiefs from today’s strategic meeting in Pune has raised eyebrows.
The meeting was intended to discuss preparations for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, but the absence of key Shiv Sena UBT representatives has fueled speculations about internal rifts.
With seat-sharing negotiations almost finalized, intense disagreements have arisen between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) over constituencies in Mumbai and Vidarbha.
The dispute escalated to the point where state president Nana Patole and MP Sanjay Raut were reported to have clashed over the issue. While attempts were made today to address these disagreements, the impact appears to have spread to Pune, signaling a widening divide within the alliance.
The MVA meeting in Pune was aimed at coordinating campaign strategies for the upcoming elections. Congress leaders sent invitations to Sanjay More, the city chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), and Prashant Jagtap, the city chief of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
Key topics included demonstrating unity when filing nomination papers across all eight assembly constituencies, coordinating messaging on social media to present a unified front, and ensuring that leaders from each party campaigned beyond their traditional constituencies to support the alliance as a whole.
Additionally, the MVA discussed inviting prominent leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, and Uddhav Thackeray to bolster the campaign in Pune.
Despite these plans, the absence of Sanjay More from the meeting led to efforts to reach city chief Gajanan Tharkude, who also could not attend due to the short notice.
“I received the meeting invitation late, so I could not attend,” Tharkude explained. Meanwhile, Sanjay More cited his visit to Mumbai for consultations on Pune's assembly seats as the reason for his absence.
Congress city chief Arvind Shinde clarified, “Today’s MVA meeting was focused on campaign planning for the Assembly elections. We discussed strategies for all three parties to coordinate their efforts. We had communicated the invitation to Shiv Sena UBT.”
