Maharashtra Elections 2024: Uddhav Thackeray as CM face? Shiv Sena supremo in Delhi, to meet Rahul Gandhi & Mallikarjun Kharge

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is scheduled to meet Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Image Credit: X/@ShivSenaUBT)

Setting the stage for the formal initiation of seat-sharing talks within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday on a three-day visit to the capital.

During his visit, Thackeray is scheduled to meet top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, among other leaders of the INDIA bloc today.

Thackeray’s visit virtually sets the stage for seat-sharing talks to begin among the Maha Aghadi constituents, namely the Shiv Sena, Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party. While the formal talks between the party representatives will be held in Mumbai, Uddhav’s meetings are likely to set the tone for Shiv Sena, which is desperate for a comeback and would like to position itself as the big brother in this alliance.

The bloc, formed just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, put up a strong performance in the elections, winning 30 of the 48 seats, and is hopeful of forming a government in the state in the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in October this year.

"Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi are in Delhi so the discussion will be held in Delhi. We want to bring a government in the state," Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.

The INDIA bloc has showcased the NDA’s performance in the state as a clear rejection by voters of the BJP’s revolving-door politics that has resulted in significant churn in the past two years. The Opposition has accused the BJP on engineering several rebellions and infighting, leading to splits in the Shiv Sena as well as the NCP.

The state unit of the Congress has also expressed confidence of a change in government in the state. However, it is yet to be seen if the Congress, which emerged as the bigger player than the Shiv Sena (UBT) in the Lok Sabha elections, would be willing to immediately name Thackeray as the chief ministerial face of the alliance.