Raut warns Congress about fielding candidate from Solapur as rift widens within MVA

Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday warned the Congress against fielding a candidate for the Solapur South Assembly seat, for which his party has already announced a candidate.

Speaking to reporters, Raut said such moves could provoke a similar reaction from them and create “problems” for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

“The Congress has announced its candidate (Dilip Mane) from Solapur South constituency in its new list. This happened at a time when we had already nominated our candidate (Amar Patil) for the same seat. I believe this is a typo on the part of Congress. Such a mistake can happen on our part,” he said.

“I have heard that local Congress leaders are keen to contest the Miraj constituency, which is part of our seat-sharing formula. If this contagion (running candidates against allies) spreads throughout the state, it will create problems for the MVA. ” said Routh.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP (SP) are part of the opposition MVA that is challenging the ruling Mahayuti.

Asked about the Congress’ interest in contesting more seats in Mumbai, Raut said, “The party is asking for one more seat in Mumbai. Traditionally, the Shiv Sena has contested more seats in Mumbai. The party is needed in Mumbai, the way of the Congress in the Vidarbha region.” Congress state president Nana Patole said the party high command has decided to contest the South Solapur seat.

“We, at the state level, cannot comment on this. This is my humble proposal to Raut that he direct his criticism towards the opposition. The issue of nominations will be decided by tomorrow.” The MVA has announced candidates for over 200 seats for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections. However, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress are deadlocked over several seats. PTI ND ARU

Disclaimer: (This report was published as part of an automatically generated syndicate news feed. Other than the headline, no changes were made to the ABP Live copy.)