85:85:85: MVA cracks Maha code on 255 seats, no consensus on 33

Uddhav announces his party's first list of 65 candidates, Aaditya will contest from Worli

- SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI @Mumbai

AFTER the intervention by former union minister Sharad Pawar, Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday ended days of stalemate and announced to contest 85 seats each in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

The three allies are discussing the sharing of the remaining 33 seats out of the total 288 among themselves and smaller parties. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut told reporters that all three allies will get an equal number of 85 seats.

"We have cleared 255 seats in the 288-member assembly while the remaining 33 seats will be distributed soon among the MVA alliance partners and its smaller allies," Raut said.