All three key constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Saturday announced their second list of candidates for Maharashtra elections, taking the total number of spoken-for seats to 217.

Though there are differences within the alliance over seat distribution and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) has announced a candidate in a seat where the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) has already named a contender, party leaders were hopeful of sorting out the irritants.

With the Congress announcing candidates for 23 seats on Saturday, the party has finalised candidatures for 71 Assembly segments. The Sena (UBT)’s second list covered 15 seats, taking its tally of candidates to 80. The NCP (SP)’s tally now stands at 66.

Though earlier this week, there appeared to be a consensus among the three parties over a seat-sharing arrangement in which all three would contest 85 seats each and leave the remaining to smaller parties, there were indications that this is not cast in stone yet. The Congress is still pressing for a larger number based on its performance in the Lok Sabha elections when the party won the biggest tally in the state.

Senior Congress leader in Maharashtra, Balasaheb Thorat, was tasked on Friday by the party’s central leadership to speak to both Thackeray and Pawar to iron out the differences in ticket distribution and also start planning for joint rallies. In election season, organising joint rallies where the leaders of the alliance will all be present is in itself a management exercise given their tight campaign schedules.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai after meeting the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Thorat told reporters that he was asked by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala to explore whether some tweaking can be done in the candidatures that have already been announced through “mutual understanding”.

He indicated that this related to a couple of seats in Mumbai. Sena (UBT) spokesperson and leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, told PTI that the MVA would reach a consensus on the remaining seats and there would be no friendly contests for those seats as was being speculated.

Thorat was also slated to meet Pawar later in the day and discuss the Samajwadi Party’s demand for contesting five seats in the state. Asked if he had discussed this with Thackeray, the Congress leader said he would be discussing this with Pawar. The SP has announced candidatures for five seats and has demanded seven more. But, now, the party has come around to insisting on five, two of which it already holds.