Rift appears in Maha Aghadi alliance over 12 Vidhan Parishad seats

The distribution of Vidhan Parishad seats has reportedly emerged as a bone of contention for the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra.

The three alliance partners — Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP — had reportedly agreed upon a proportional distribution of the 12 seats in the Vidhan Parishad, the upper house in the state assembly. However, the Congress has now objected to it, reported NDTV.

According to the proportional distribution system, the Shiv Sena has five seats, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has four, and the Congress three seats. However, the Congress now wants an equal distribution of the 12 seats, in which the three parties will have four seats each.

The Congress leaders are likely to meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday (June 15) in this regard, the report said, quoting the party’s leader, Ashok Chavan, as saying that the matter will be resolved during the meeting.

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Last month, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s comment that his party was not a key decision-maker in Maharashtra was also seen as distancing the party from the decisions taken by the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

“We are supporting the government in Maharashtra, but we are not the key decision-maker there. We are decision-makers in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Puducherry. There is a difference between running the government and supporting it,” Gandhi had said.

The speculation of a rift within the MVA alliance was fuelled by Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Governor BS Koshyari and Chief Minister Thackeray last month. But the speculations were put to rest by Pawar, who accused the BJP of trying to topple the government.

The state BJP unit, meanwhile, said the alliance was concerned only about power during the time of a pandemic crisis.