Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday asserted that although the seat sharing formula among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners for the next year's Lok Sabha elections is yet to be finalised, the number of 19 seats that the Shiv Sena (undivided) won in the last election will remain with his party.
Talking to reporters in Nanded, Raut said the Shiv Sena (undivided) won 18 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and one in Daman and Diu in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Although the undivided Shiv Sena won 18 seats in the last general elections in the state, 13 of the MPs shifted allegiance to the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde following his rebellion against the party leadership.
"Even though some of the sitting MPs have defected, the seats were won by the Shiv Sena and they will remain with us,'' he said, adding the four constituencies won by the MVA constituent Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and one by the Congress will also remain with them.
The MVA is united and there are no differences among the three partners, the Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member said. ''We will give a united fight in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and MVA's 'vajramooth' (iron fist) will defeat the incumbent government,'' he said.
Raut said no seat-sharing formula has been decided yet as the talks are still at a preliminary stage. The Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in April-May 2024, while the Maharashtra Assembly polls are scheduled in October-November next year.
