'No differences': MVA leaders deny any rift over seat-sharing as Chennithala meets Thackeray

Mumbai, Oct. 19 (IANS) Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday declared that there are "no differences" in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over seat-sharing for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls and an agreement would be finalised shortly.

Chennithala, accompanied by state leaders M.Arif Naseem Khan and Ashok alias Bhai Jatgap, rushed to meet SS-UBT President Uddhav Thackeray, Raut and others to resolve the purported sharp disagreements over the seat distribution.

"I have come here to enquire about Thackeray’s health… His health is good… Even MVA’s health is fine," he said after emerging from the brief meeting.

"There are no differences among us and we are all working together on the seat-sharing formula. We will continue the discussions again this afternoon," Chennithala added.

Raut also said that there was no bickering and that he would be attending the MVA meeting at 3 p.m., along with Congress state President Nana F. Patole and Nationalist Congress Party-SP President Jayant R. Patil.

"We shall sit till late if necessary and finalise the seat-sharing agreement by tonight. We plan to announce the list of all our candidates at the earliest possible," he asserted as he came out of the meeting.

Perturbed over the face-off in the MVA over seat-sharing for the elections, the Congress dispatched Chennithala to meet Thackeray to break the deadlock - 72 hours before the poll process gets underway on October 22.

Embarrassing the MVA leaders, Raut had publicly accused Patole of adopting an adamant approach on the issue which had delayed the seat-sharing process, mostly pertaining to the Vidarbha region. Patole argued that he was merely following his party protocols in consultation with the Congress high command in New Delhi - as the ruling alliance MahaYuti gleefully watched the unfolding drama on the other side.

On Friday, a peeved Thackeray stressed that the differences "should not be stretched to a breaking point", alarming the MVA allies and prompting the Congress to send Chennithala post-haste to iron out the wrinkles among the two major allies.

Even Nationalist Congress Party-SP President Sharad Pawar has voiced concern over the current logjam over seat divisions, while MVA supporters like the Samajwadi Party have threatened to go solo if smaller allies are not accommodated on at least a dozen seats.

Patole reiterated that the seats will be divided/distributed on the basis of merit and the strength of each ally in individual seats, while Raut urged the Congress to accommodate regional parties which support them.