Mumbai: Amid growing differences within the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra over seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on a two-day visit to the state.
During his visit, Shah, apart from holding public rallies where he will sound the election bugle, is expected to hold meetings with alliance partners Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar to iron out the difficulties of seat-sharing. He is also going to hold discussions on seats, particularly in Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Maharashtra.
The BJP, Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are the leading alliance partners in the Mahayuti. According to sources in Shinde’s Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, the parties are pressing hard for 22 and 16 seats respectively. Maharashtra has a total of 48 Lok Sabha seats.
“We have done an assessment of 16 Lok Sabha seats and will at least try to get 12 seats in our kitty,” an NCP leader told ThePrint, not wanting to be named.
“These are the seats where we (undivided NCP) came a close second (in 2019) and have good chances of winning. The seats also include (those) where there is a sizeable Muslim population, which we think we stand a chance to win,” the leader further said.
The NCP will have its internal meeting on 5 and 6 March and top leaders will also meet Amit Shah.
“We are having our own internal assessment and are assessing about 16 Lok Sabha constituencies, where we have won or have good chances of winning. And at the appropriate time, we will sit with senior leaders of Shiv Sena and BJP to finalise it,” Sanjay Tatkare, NCP spokesperson told ThePrint.
As far as Shiv Sena is concerned, they are firm on 22 seats, which they claim were a part of their seat-sharing deal in 2019 with the BJP.
“Our demand is that we are asking for seats where we fought on last time as part of our alliance with BJP. All three party leaders will sit with Amit Shah and finalise the seat-sharing,” Sanjay Shirsat, Shiv Sena MLA, told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders are trying to fight on as many seats as possible this election. Shinde’s Sena might get around 11 while NCP is expected to get 6-8 seats, a BJP leader told ThePrint.
“Last time we won 23 seats. So naturally, we will be fighting on those. And our leader Amit Shah will solve the seat-sharing issues as the motto is to win 400+ seats for NDA,” another BJP leader told ThePrint.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Amit Shah will hold rallies in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), take a stock on the Vidarbha seats, and also hold meetings with BJP leaders as well as alliance partners.
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Tussle in Mahayuti
The tussle in Mahayuti over Lok Sabha seats has been going on for a while.
For instance, Union Minister Narayan Rane has staked claim on the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, being from the region.
“Lok Sabha elections will be announced soon. Many leaders from various parties are staking claim to the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat. Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat belongs to BJP, and only we will contest this seat,” he wrote in a post on X on 29 February.
लोकसभेची निवडणूक लवकरच जाहीर होईल. विविध पक्षाचे बरेच नेते रत्नागिरी-सिंधुदुर्ग लोकसभेच्या जागेसंबंधी आपला हक्क दाखवित आहेत. रत्नागिरी-सिंधुदुर्ग लोकसभेची जागा ही भारतीय जनता पक्षाची असुन भारतीय जनता पक्षच ही जागा लढवणार आहे.
— Narayan Rane (मोदी का परिवार) (@MeNarayanRane) February 29, 2024
According to a report in The Indian Express, Shiv Sena leader from Konkan, Ramdas Kadam hit back, saying: “Earlier you (BJP) staked claim to the Raigad seat and now you are staking claim to the Ratnagiri seat. This cannot be tolerated. We are in an alliance and are going to contest together. So you will also have to compromise on some seats. Or is it that the BJP wishes to eliminate all the parties and stand alone?”
But BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule retorted saying that Eknath Shinde will take calls regarding seat-sharing and Kadam’s opinion is his personal and not of the alliance, according to a Loksatta report.
Another MP from the Shinde camp, Bhavana Gawali from Yavatmal, is firm on her constituency.
Earlier this week, Gawali said, “There is no question of giving my candidature to anyone. I have my own claim on this candidature, I have been elected five times in a row. So I say mai apni Jhansi nahi dungi (I will not give up my Jhansi).”
But in alliance, some compromises need to be made, said Sena MLA Shirsat, quoted earlier. “Now Ajit Pawar’s party has also joined the alliance so some seats we (BJP and Shiv Sena) will have to leave for them. But which those will be, and how that will be done, the discussion over that will be undetaken by our senior leaders,” said Shirsat.
The NCP too is assessing the situation. “When we joined (hands with) BJP, we were promised 90 assembly seats and 9 Lok Sabha seats at least. But with BJP, you know how hard they bargain. But we will try to push for 12 seats at least,” the NCP leader quoted earlier said.
Constituencies the NCP has reviewed include Kolhapur (now held by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena), Ahmadnagar South (BJP), Bhandara-Gondia (BJP), Nashik (Shinde Sena), and Dindori, a Scheduled Tribe reserved seat currently held by the BJP.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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