Uddhav Sena extends support to NCP for Pune Lok Sabha seat, but has eyes on Parth Pawar’s Maval hopes

On Sunday, Ajit Pawar had claimed that Congress has been losing the Pune Lok Sabha seat for a long time, and, therefore, the Nationalist Congress Party wants to contest from the constituency.

“In the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), we have decided that the party which has strength in a particular city will contest that city’s Lok Sabha seat. From the numbers in the civic body and Assembly elections, it is clear that the NCP is in a better position to contest the Pune Lok Sabha seat. Therefore, the Shiv Sena is in favour of the NCP contesting the Pune Lok Sabha seat,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told The Indian Express.

However, Raut clarified that though the Sena (UBT) is in favour of the NCP contesting the Pune Lok Sabha, the final decision on the issue will be taken at an MVA meeting. “We will discuss the issue threadbare and then take a final decision. But as decided in our earlier meeting, a particular Lok Sabha seat will go to an alliance partner based on the strength of the partner in terms of corporators, MLAs, and votes received,” said Raut.

Meanwhile, even as the Congress and NCP are locked in a tussle for the Pune seat, which fell vacant following the death of the BJP’s Girish Bapat, there is likely to be another gridlock in the MVA over the Maval Lok Sabha seat.

When only the Congress and NCP were in an alliance before the MVA’s formation in 2019, the NCP had been contesting the Maval Lok Sabha seat. And, during the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance that existed before 2019, the Sena had been contesting the seat.

After the split in the Shiv Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction—now a part of the MVA—is also eyeing to contest the Maval Lok Sabha seat.

Of the 22 Lok Sabha seats, the united Shiv Sena contested in 2019, it had won 18 of them—including Maval. Party candidate Shrirang Barne has won the Maval seat twice in 2014 and 2019—with over two lakh votes during both elections. Barne has now defected to the Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“Since the Maval Lok Sabha seat has come into existence, the Shiv Sena has been winning it convincingly. In 2019, our candidate had defeated Parth Pawar despite the NCP’s all-out efforts. We have a strong base in the Maval Lok Sabha seat. And therefore, we want to field our candidate from here,” said Raut.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), however, has a problem. After Barne defected, it only has one strong leader in Rahul Kalate. “We are considering various names, including that of Rahul Kalate,” said Raut.

However, Parth Pawar is unlikely to give up the seat. “Come what may, I will contest from the Maval Lok Sabha seat,” Parth Pawar had told The Indian Express last year.

When contacted on Sunday, Parth Pawar said he will talk about the seat at later.

If Parth Pawar refuses to contest, the NCP has a strong candidate in Sunil Shelkhe, who is the party’s Maval MLA. NCP leaders said Shelkhe is the only candidate party has who is capable of defeating Barne.

“Shelkhe is very popular in the Maval area. His popularity spans both the Pune district and the Raigad district. He has good connect across the constituency,” said an NCP leader.

Shelke was involved in a controversy recently after he was named in an FIR related to a murder case although he has denied the allegations.

The Uddhav Sena, however, is hopeful the NCP will backtrack from Maval. “We hope the NCP will allow us to contest the seat as we have been winning it,” said Raut.