Kolhapur Seat Tussle: Sharad Pawars intervention Sought.
The Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) faces a potential roadblock just days after finalizing its seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The bone of contention: the Kolhapur constituency.
Congress and Shiv Sena are at loggerheads over the seat. The Congress is keen to field Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj from Kolhapur, while the Shiv Sena is only willing to concede the seat if Maharaj contests on their ticket.
Failing to reach an internal resolution, MVA leaders sought the intervention of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The Kolhapur seat conundrum now rests with Pawar, who will have to bridge the gap between the two parties.
Adding fuel to the fire, simmering discontent within the Shiv Sena regarding seat allocation in western Maharashtra has come to the fore. The Congress has laid claim to all the seats in the region, including Shirur, Satara, Baramati, Hatkanangle (Raju Shetti), and Sangli.
According News broadcasted on IBN lokmat a leading Marathi News channel, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has issued a veiled threat – he will not address a single campaign rally in western Maharashtra if the Kolhapur seat is not conceded to his party.
This latest development throws a wrench into the MVA’s So called unity and casts a shadow over the alliance’s prospects in the upcoming loksabha polls. The outcome of the Kolhapur seat dispute will be keenly watched as it has the potential to significantly impact the MVA’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
It remains to be seen if the MVA leadership can find an amicable solution to the Kolhapur imbroglio or whether the dispute will snowball into a full-blown crisis.