The state Congress has formally requested its national leadership for permission to contest elections in five Lok Sabha constituencies, despite these seats being claimed by its allies within the MVA coalition.
During an online meeting, senior members of the state Congress, led by party chief Nana Patole, expressed dissatisfaction to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) regarding the Shiv Sena (UBT) unilaterally selecting candidates for Sangli, Mumbai North West, North East, and South Central constituencies, along with the NCP claiming Bhiwandi. They requested permission to field candidates for what they termed as 'friendly fights'.
The Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) comprise the Maha Vikas Aghadi. We met and decided to communicate to the central leadership that we will have friendly fights on six seats, namely Sangli, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North West and some more places. The manner in which Shiv Sena (UBT) announced candidates on seats claimed by Congress has angered our party workers, Khan said. The Shiv Sena (UBT) announced its candidates in Sangli, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North West, while the NCP(SP) is claiming Bhiwandi.