Reasons for Not Announcing Seat Sharing:The Thackeray brothers created a major political atmosphere and announced their alliance today. Marathi media showed celebrations across Maharashtra over this development. However, the Thackeray brothers did not announce seat sharing between Shiv Sena and MNS because discussions with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are still ongoing.

The Congress party has maintained distance from the Thackeray brothers. Therefore, the question of Congress giving up any seats does not arise. But if Sharad Pawar joins the alliance, his NCP will have to give up some seats.Similarly, if the Communist Party in Mumbai or other smaller parties show readiness to join the Thackeray brothers, they too will have to be allotted a limited number of seats—countable on one’s fingers.

The Thackeray brothers felt that if they announced seat sharing and candidates in advance, and if some candidates—especially the BJP—were to poach them, it could create complications.

Because of all these reasons, even after announcing the alliance, the Thackeray brothers kept the suspense over seat sharing intact. They did not announce the number of seats, and the question of announcing candidates’ names did not arise at all.

At the press conference, the Thackeray brothers seated Sanjay Raut beside them. Sanjay Raut gave a brief introduction, after which Uddhav Thackeray spoke, followed by Raj Thackeray. They stated: “Let the BJP do what it wants; we are doing what the Marathi people want. The Marathi people wanted the Thackeray brothers’ alliance, and today we have announced it. In Nashik, the Shiv Sena and MNS alliance has already been declared. In Mumbai too, we will contest the elections as an alliance. We will give tickets to those who deserve them, and we will ensure that Mumbai’s mayor is Marathi,” declared Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray.After this, a photo session was held on stage. During the photo session, the Thackeray brothers included Aaditya Thackeray, Amit Thackeray, Rashmi Thackeray, Sharmila Thackeray, as well as the Thackeray brothers’ maternal uncle, Chandu Mama Vaidya.