The Shiv Sena faction of Uddhav Thackeray released a name of 65 candidates this evening, declaring that the seat-sharing for Maharashtra has been finalised. The contentious exercise had concluded after weeks of hectic discussions. The conclusion, Shiv Sena had said, was each of the three key allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi – the Sena UBT, Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) will contest 85 seats. This will take the total to 255 – the rest of the state’s 288 seats, 33, will go to the smaller allies of the MVA.  

At the press conference held this evening Sena UBT’s Sanjay Raut and Congress’s Nana Patole made the announcement – but the math left something more to be desired.

“Sharad Pawar told us to go to the media and tell them that we have finalised the 85-85-85 formula. That leaves us with 270. Then the rest of the 18 seats will be given to the friends,” Sanjay Raut said. Nana Pat9ole repeated the same message in Hindi.
 
Later, when it was pointed out that the 85 formula adds up to 255, Sena’s Anil Desai improvised: “We have to prepare for filling the form and AB form has to be given, so an agreement has been made on 85-85-85. The rest will be given to small friendly parties after some discussion. Whatever remains will be divided among us”.

The MVA allies, after a 6-plus-hour meet yesterday that ran past midnight, had resumed this morning, with veteran leader Sharad Pawar mediating between the Congress and Shiv Sena UBT, which had hit a deadlock over a handful of seats in Mumbai, Nashik and Vidarbha.
 

An explosion near Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters in Kahramankazan, north of Ankara, has resulted in casualties. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya labeled the incident a ‘terrorist attack.’ Reports indicate a possible hostage situation following the blast. No group has claimed responsibility yet.

Nasreen, who said she felt relieved at the extension of the permit,said that she was quite worried about it for the last three months