Congress demands nine seats in Sangli market committee elections

On Friday, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders conducted the first round of talks to decide on seat-sharing for the upcoming Sangli market committee elections. The meeting involved district presidents of Congress, NCP, and Thackeray factions.

According to sources, the Congress party has demanded nine seats, out of which five should be allocated in Jat taluka and the remaining four in Miraj. The Thackeray faction has shown a willingness to compromise and has reduced its demand from six to four seats, including two held by former minister Ajitrao Ghorpade. Meanwhile, the NCP has retained its original demand for seats.

The upcoming market committee elections seem to be a contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the BJP and Third alliance, and as a result, the Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena Thackeray faction in the MVA are actively strategizing. As the deadline for withdrawal of nominations is April 20, discussions on seat sharing are ongoing. During a recent meeting, Congress put forward a proposal for nine seats, with five seats sought in Jat taluka and four in Miraj taluka.

During the meeting held on Friday, the Thackeray faction, which had initially demanded six seats, has now scaled back its request to four seats. The faction is proposing to allocate two seats to themselves and the remaining two seats to the Ghorpade group.

While representatives from the Congress, NCP, and Thackeray faction were present at the meeting, the NCP did not assert its claim to the seats. The final decision on seat allocation will be made after consultations with state president Jayant Patil.

Congress leaders Dr Vishwajit Kadam and Jayant Patil will hold discussions regarding the proposal presented by the parties, and the final decision will be taken on April 19, ahead of the last date for nomination withdrawals on April 20.