Maharashtra: Eknath Shinde team says preparing to fight 22 of Shiv Sena's LS seats

MUMBAI: Even as there is bickering in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde has claimed that it has started preparations to fight 22 seats which an undivided Sena had fought in 2019, indicating the Shinde camp would stake claim to these seats in its alliance with BJP. The Sena had fought 23 seats in 2019.
Sena MP Rahul Shewale said that at a meeting on Wednesday, CM Shinde discussed preparations for 22 seats. Shewale said the seats of the 13 sitting MPs who are with the Shinde group and the remaining seats, where the MPs are with the Sena (UBT), will be reviewed and preparations made for the general elections. Sena leaders said they had a natural claim on those seats.
"The meeting of all MPs was held by chief minister Eknath Shinde. This was a review meeting in view of the Lok Sabha elections. On this occasion, he reviewed the Lok Sabha work of 13 MPs of Shiv Sena and there was discussion on what to do in order to win the Lok Sabha elections. There will be joint meetings of BJP-Shiv Sena-RPI in the constituencies of the 13 Sena MPs. Development works will be taken up in all these Lok Sabha constituencies through the chief minister," Shewale said.
In July last year, 12 of the Shiv Sena's 19 MPs (one is from Dadra Nagar-Haveli) supported Shinde and asked the Lok Sabha Speaker in a letter that they be identified as a "separate group".
Later, Mumbai North-West MP and Sena leader Gajanan Kirtikar (79) became the 13th Sena MP to join the Shinde Sena. The Uddhav Thackeray faction is now left with six MPs.
The BJP-Sena combine had in 2019 won 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while the Congress won one and NC. While Sena won 18 LS seats, the BJP won 23. The BJP and Sena had contested 25 and 23 seats respectively. Congress had fielded candidates in 25 seats, while NCP had contested 19. The The Congress and NCP had shared the remaining four seats with their allies.
Last week, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that preliminary seat-sharing talks between the MVA partners had begun.