Raut, Patole clash over seats. Don't go to extreme: Uddhav Thackeray

MUMBAI: A day after MVA failed to resolve differences over 28 assembly seats though it reached an agreement on seat-sharing on 260, a row broke out between Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut and MPCC chief Nana Patole . While Raut said Congress netas in the state "are not capable of taking decisions" and Patole maintained the Congress high command would take a decision on the seats, Uddhav Thackeray said it was natural for there to be a tug of war over seats, but parties needed to remember "not to stretch things to breaking point". Uddhav also said seat-sharing talks in MVA would conclude in a day or two.

A senior Sena (UBT) functionary said Congress was not leaving seats for the party in eastern Vidarbha. Congress's AICC in-charge for Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala, is likely to meet Uddhav over the weekend.

Taking a dig at Patole, Raut said Friday, "Congress has a mechanism; they have to send the list to Delhi. We say if these decisions are taken in Maharashtra, they will be done very quickly. Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) are based in Maharashtra. We have requested Congress party seniors to make an urgent decision. It seems Congress netas in Maharashtra are not capable of making decisions. Also, we want to say Vidarbha is a part of Maharashtra and not an independent state. We gave a six-times-won seat like Ramtek to Congress. The Amravati seat was given to Congress. I don't think it is wrong if we hope now. Our workers feel we should get more seats in the assembly polls."

When later in the day, Patole was asked about Raut's statement at an MVA press conference, he responded, "Our high command will take a decision on this. I don't know what Raut has said. There is no dispute between us. We are all coordinating with each other. If Raut thinks he is bigger than Uddhav Thackeray and he doesn't have to talk to Uddhav Thackeray, then he is a big man. But in Congress, there is a protocol and high command."

Uddhav said, "I think there is no big dispute over seats. I have not heard anything like this. When things come to me, I will talk about it. Seat-sharing talks will be concluded in the next two to three days, and they can even get over in one or two days. Since the number of seats is more in the assembly, talks are taking more time." He added, "All parties are different, and they have not been merged. Until the last election, we were fighting each other. So more talks will take place."