Mumbai: The Congress party has been contesting the Sangli Lok Sabha seat for the past several years. However, in this Year's Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena's Thackeray faction in the Maha Vikas Aghadi has staked claim to the Sangli seat and also announced its candidate for the seat. Amid the seat-sharing politics and resentments among parties, Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut re-asserted that their party will only contest in Sangli.
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Sanjay Raut will be on a three-day visit to Sangli from today. He spoke to the media ahead of the visit. "All the 48 seats in Maharashtra are of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Not of just Shiv Sena or the Congress. Shiv Sena has a clear vision to win all seats," Raut said. He further continued, "There may be resentment among some people as the Sangli seat is with the Shiv Sena. Amravati and Kolhapur were our seats, but we have explained it to our workers. So, if some Congress people are unhappy in Sangli, it is the responsibility of the senior Congress leadership to explain it to them. We will do our best to win Sangli's seat," Raut said.
The Thackeray faction has fielded Chandrahar Patil from the Sangli seat. In the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Thackeray group has left the Kolhapur seat for the Congress. In return, the Shiv Sena's Thackeray faction has taken over the Sangli Lok Sabha seat. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kolhapur. However, local Congress leaders and some state-level leaders are against the move for the Sangli seat. It is said that there is a long-standing dispute over the site.