MVA finalises seat-sharing for 260 seats for Maharashtra Assembly elections: Reports
Mumbai: Reports have suggested that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has reached a consensus on 260 of the 288 seats for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, with the Congress securing 110 to 115 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) 83 to 86 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) 72 to 75 seats. Disagreements over the remaining constituencies are expected to be resolved soon, according to sources.
The seat-sharing agreement follows the Congress's strong performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Discussions are ongoing to allocate the remaining 20 to 25 seats, which are highly contested among the alliance partners. A senior MVA leader involved in the negotiations said that a formula is being developed that takes into account each party’s chances of success in the election.
Several key figures attended the seat-sharing meeting, including Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and MP Anil Desai, and NCP state president Jayant Patil.
The alliance is also considering giving two to three seats each to the Samajwadi Party, Left parties, and the Peasants and Workers Party. Additionally, Uddhav Thackeray is pushing for more seats in Mumbai and the Konkan region, a traditional stronghold for Shiv Sena. The Congress is expected to contest more seats in Vidarbha, while the NCP will focus on western Maharashtra.
Each party aims to win enough seats to strengthen its claim to the Chief Minister’s post.
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Trump’s fresh threat to bomb Iran amid reports of deal to end war
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with more bombing if it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, amid a report that the warring sides were nearing an agreement to end the war.
US media outlet Axios reported, quoting US officials and two other sources, that the US and Iran were getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.
The US expects Iranian responses on several key points over the next 48 hours, Axios reported, adding that nothing has been agreed yet. This was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," Trump said.
According to Axios, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the US agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
It said many of the terms laid out in the memo would be contingent on a final agreement being reached, leaving the possibility of renewed war or an extended limbo in which the hot war has stopped, but nothing is truly resolved.
