MUMBAI: In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling alliance in Maharashtra is inching closer to sealing the seat-sharing deal with the BJP contesting from 26 of the total 48 seats while Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the NCP bloc headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar fighting for 11 seats each, sources said.
Shinde, according to sources, is unhappy with the deal, which is yet to be finalised. “Shinde-led Sena has the support of 13 MPs in Lok Sabha while six MPs are with former CM Uddhav Thackeray headed faction-Shiv Sena (UBT). Therefore, the CM has been demanding that at least all sitting MPs [13] should get the ticket,” sources said.
However, as Ajit Pawar broke a deal with the BJP of 11 seats and the former was unwilling to keep 13 seats aside, so Shinde faction had no option but to settle with 11 seats. But there seems to be more. According to a senior minister of the Shinde bloc, who didn’t wish to be named, the chief minister is seeking better offers from the BJP in the state Assembly polls if a “compromise” has to be reached for the general elections.
“We were promised that there will be honorable seat sharing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. If BJP wants the upper hand, then they have to promise that state assembly elections will be fought under the face of Eknath Shinde only,” the Shiv Sena minister said.
“Moreover, if the Mahayuti government retains power, then Shinde should be made the chief minister of the state again. If this is promised, then only Shiv Sena will compromise for general elections,” the minister added.
On the other hand, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and former Union minister Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction, has decided to distribute the 48 seats more or less equally. In the 2019 elections, BJP and then-undivided Shiv Sena divided the seats by 25 and 23. Of these, the saffron party bagged 23 seats while 18 fell in Sena’s kitty.