Maharashtra polls: If MVA wins, next CM will be from Congress, claims Thorat

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will form the next government in Maharashtra and the chief minister’s post will go to someone from the Congress, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said in Mira-Bhayander on Thursday.
“I urge you all to work together with our allies and I’m sure that the next chief minister will be from the MVA and that too the Congress,” Thorat told party workers from the Konkan region.
This is the first time that the Congress has staked claim to the chief minister’s post in the run-up to the assembly polls. The development comes at a time when both the Congress and the NCP (SP) have rejected Shiv Sena (UBT)’s demand to project a chief ministerial candidate ahead of the polls.
All parties would want to win the maximum number of seats and ensure the chief minister is from their party, Thorat said while responding to queries about differences among the alliance partners on the chief ministerial candidate.
“We think that the chief minister should be from the Congress. So does every other party in the coalition. There is nothing unusual in this situation,” said Thorat. He clarified that the party with the maximum number of legislators would be able to stake claim to the chief minister’s position after the polls.
Shiv Sena (UBT) responded to Thorat’s statement positively, saying the MVA’s primary objective was to defeat the ruling Mahayuti government.
“Every party has an aspiration to get the chief minister’s position once and there is nothing wrong in it. But at present, the priority of all three parties is to defeat the Mahayuti government,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and leader of opposition in the legislative council, Ambadas Danve.
NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad made light of questions from reporters about Thorat’s statements, saying he himself would be the MVA’s chief ministerial face.
The choice of a chief ministerial candidate has been a major bone of contention among MVA allies for several weeks now. Shiv Sena (UBT) has been trying to convince its partners about the need to go into the polls with a chief ministerial face. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray had made the demand openly on August 17, while attending the birth anniversary celebrations of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in Mumbai.
“Leaders like Prithviraj Chavan and Sharad Pawar are present here. I want to tell them that they should decide the name of the CM (before the polls). I will support anyone picked by the Congress and NCP (SP),” Thackeray had said. The system of the chief minister’s post going to the party with the maximum number of MLAs leads to allies trying to pull each other down, he had added.
A few days later, on September 4, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar rejected the demand, saying the decision would be taken after the elections based on the number of seats won by the respective parties.
“There is no reason to deliberate on the issue at this moment. Many times, the decision on leadership was taken after the election, based on the number of MLAs of coalition partners,” Pawar had said. The Congress too had backed his statement.
Seat-sharing talk without Cong
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the seat-sharing formula despite the Congress requesting postponement of the meeting as its leaders were busy in another meeting focussed on the Konkan region. NCP (SP) leaders including state chief Jayant Patil and senior leaders Anil Deshmukh, Rajesh Tope and Jitendra Awhad met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at his Bandra residence ‘Matoshri’ on Thursday evening. Discussions were held on assembly constituencies in Mumbai and some other seats which the two parties wanted to exchange among themselves, said sources.