MVA seat-sharing talks: Raut expresses disappointment, says state Cong leaders can’t make decisions
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday expressed disappointment over the delay in the seat-sharing talks among MVA partners and claimed that Maharashtra Congress leaders are “not capable of making decisions”.
Talking to reporters, Raut said Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners – Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) –have reached a consensus on 200 of the 288 assembly seats.
The Rajya Sabha member said he spoke to Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik and the party's Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala on Friday morning over seat-sharing. The Sena (UBT) leader said he would also speak to top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi later in the day.
“The pending decision should be expedited. Very little time is left. Maharashtra Congress leaders are not capable of making decisions. They have to send the list to Delhi frequently and then discussions happen. The decision will have to be taken at the earliest,” Raut said.
Late on Thursday evening, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that a list of 20-25 assembly constituencies where MVA partners have overlapping claims will be sent to the high commands of each party to resolve the stalemate.
Patole told reporters that the MVA leaders involved in seat-sharing talks had a final meeting on Thursday. He said attempts were being made to declare the seat-sharing arrangement for all 288 constituencies by October 18-19.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the MVA performed impressively winning 30 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. Assembly polls in the state will be held on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.
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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.
