MVA Likely To Release Joint Manifesto For Maharashtra Assembly Polls, Farmers May Be Top Priority

After announcing that they will contest the Maharashtra assembly polls together, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), is likely to bring out a joint manifesto. The manifesto may be released even before their seat-sharing formula is announced, according to sources.

In the recently held general elections, the MVA performed better than the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state. The MVA secured 30 of the 48 seats, which has given them high hopes for the upcoming state assembly polls. Consequently, all three parties have decided to expedite their poll preparations.

A source in the MVA said, “The alliance partners feel people have high expectations from them. While drafting the manifesto, they will ensure that all stakeholders across communities get equal and fair representation.”

Sources further said the MVA will constitute a manifesto committee to study and draft the joint manifesto for the alliance. This committee will have representation from all parties in the alliance. It is not yet clear who will lead the committee and how many members it will have. Issues of farmers may be key in this manifesto, said the source.

Last weekend, the MVA held a joint press conference where they announced their decision to contest the upcoming state assembly polls, which are slated to happen in the next few months, together.

Sources said that before the press conference, top MVA leaders held a meeting, where they held initial talks about the issues to be raised in the state assembly and the strategy to be adopted. The formula for seat sharing was also discussed in the meeting.

A few more rounds of talks are expected during the upcoming monsoon session of the state assembly. One key topic of discussion in the meeting was that seats should be distributed based on merit and the winning possibility of candidates instead of historic data.

When the MVA established their government after the 2019 state polls, they had created a common minimum programme, agreed upon by all stakeholders of the alliance, leading to the formation of the MVA and the state government. A source within the MVA said a similar programme is likely to be chalked out by the MVA.