Sanjay Raut accuses BJP of spreading misinformation, confirms MVA consensus on 210 seats

Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi has reached consensus on 210 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, which is a "significant achievement", Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Monday.

The aim is to ensure the defeat of forces looting Maharashtra, he said in a swipe at the ruling alliance comprising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

"We have arrived at a consensus on 210 seats. It is a significant achievement. We aim to contest polls as a joint force and we will defeat the forces looting Maharashtra," Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP and key strategist for the Shiv Sena (UBT), told reporters.

The MVA comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP).

Raut's comments came amid a flurry of news channel reports that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party may break away from the MVA and contest all 288 seats on its own.

The past few days have seen hectic parleys among the three main opposition parties to finalise a seat-sharing deal, with speculation doing the rounds of the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) not being on the same page.

The statement from Raut also comes amid speculation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah having a phone conservation with him, hinting at the Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP, which were allies for decades before going their separate ways in 2019, getting back together.

The two parties had broken of their alliance after the 2019 assembly polls. The undivided Shiv Sena, at the time, accused the BJP of going back on a promise to share the chief ministerial tenure. The BJP has routinely denied any such agreement.

Asked about the phone conversation, Raut said, "The BJP is feeding false news. We know who is doing it. The party fears loss in the assembly polls so is spreading misinformation." Raut said the BJP engineered a split in the Shiv Sena (in June 2022), brought down Thackeray's MVA government and also ensured the party name and symbol went to the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde.

"The worst the BJP did was to give the reins of the government to traitors (a term the Uddhav group uses to describe Shinde and rebel MLAs), who have been looting the state for the past couple of years. We (Uddhav faction) have had maximum conflicts with the BJP," Raut further said, underlining the impossibility of a rapprochement.

Raut emphasised such misinformation has nothing to do with seat-sharing discussions in the MVA.

Asked about some Congress leaders leaking information to the media against the Shiv Sena (UBT), Raut said he was "surprised a Congress leader can make such a comment".

"We will not assist the BJP, which seeks to undermine the Constitution and insult the pride of Maharashtra," Raut asserted.

Maharashtra assembly polls will be held on November 20, while results will be declared on November 23. The term of the current assembly ends on November 26.