"Talks Underway": Sanjay Raut After Prakash Ambedkar Releases Poll List

A day after the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, a partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), announced nine candidates for the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Thursday the move by the Prakash Ambedkar-led party will not dampen the electoral prospects of the Opposition alliance in the state.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Raut said, "The elections (in Maharashtra) will be held in five phases. A list of nine candidates has been released (by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi). There is a lot of time (for sewing up a seat-sharing deal). Talks are underway."

He affirmed that the VBA chief, who also happens to be the grandson of Dalit icon and the father of the country's Constitution, BR Ambedkar, was still in the MVA's fight against the BJP.

Acknowledging that the BJP and the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state stand to gain if the Prakash Ambedkar-led party were to exit the MVA, the Rajya Sabha MP said, "The BJP will benefit, either directly or indirectly (if the VBA were to walk out of the MVA). However, (Prakash) Ambedkar will not do any such thing as he is also with us in this fight. Elections come and go. What would you do if the country and the Constitution were in peril? We all need to stick together."

Playing down fears of friction between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress's state unit over the allotment of seats for the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Raut said such differences were 'normal'.

"The discussions over seat allotments are in their final stages and the list will be out shortly. There are no prickly issues between us and the Congress. These things can happen in an alliance. We accept that the Congress may have felt bad losing Sangli (to Uddhav Sena) as they have enough cadres in the constituency. However, even we have set aside Ramtek for the Congress," the Sena (UBT) MP said.

On the MVA meeting scheduled for Friday, Mr Raut said, "The MVA partners are to hold a meeting today. However, seat-sharing won't be part of the discussions today. The talks today will centre around the joint campaign and our common minimum programme. We will also flesh out our strategy going forward. Everything is going well in Maha Vikas Aghadi. Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Prithviraj Chauhan, Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole...all will be there at today's meeting."

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