Samajwadi Party Ultimatum to MVA Allies: ‘Grant Us 5 Seats or Face Competition on 25

Abu Asim Azmi, chief of the Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit, has issued a deadline to his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, demanding five seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

‘Give 5 Seats or Contest on 25’: Samajwadi Leader’s Warning to MVA Allies

Abu Asim Azmi, chief of the Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit, has issued a deadline to his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, demanding five seats in the upcoming assembly elections. He has warned that if his demand isn’t met by Saturday afternoon, the Samajwadi Party will field candidates on 25 seats.

Azmi’s Seat Demands within the MVA

The Samajwadi Party is a key part of the MVA, an alliance that includes Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). On Friday, Azmi, a three-time MLA from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, met with NCP leader Sharad Pawar at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai to negotiate seat-sharing.

Azmi reiterated his request for five seats, citing the Samajwadi Party’s sitting MLAs in Bhiwandi East and Mankhurd and his additional interest in Bhiwandi West, Malegaon, and Dhule. He has made it clear that if the demands are unmet by the set deadline, he will proceed with fielding 25 candidates.

Warning Against Division of Muslim Votes

Azmi raised concerns about potential division within the Muslim vote base, urging the MVA to provaide adequate minority representation. "If you don’t give representation to the minorities, they will contest, and you will have another Haryana,” Azmi warned, alluding to the Congress’s recent electoral losses in Haryana.

MVA’s Current Candidate Lists

The 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly election will take place in a single phase on November 20, with results announced on November 23. So far, Congress has released its first list with 48 candidates, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) has 45 candidates, and Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced 65 candidates.