MUMBAI: The alliance partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have decided to contest an equal number of seats, while the BJP-led Mahayuti is yet to finalize its formula for the Maharashtra state assembly elections scheduled for October this year.
According to a highly placed source in the MVA, the formula agreed upon by the alliance partners—Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT)—is 96:96:96 for the upcoming state assembly elections in the 288-member assembly.
Sources indicated that the alliance partners of the MVA have decided that there will be no 'big' or 'small' brother in the alliance, with each party contesting an equal number of seats.
“In the allocated seats, the respective parties will accommodate their smaller allies such as the Samajwadi Party by Congress, the Peasant and Workers Party by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), and the farmer leader Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan and left parties. If Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is willing to ally with the MVA, then the MVA leaders have decided to accommodate them as well,” said a senior MVA leader who requested anonymity.
Sharad Pawar, the architect of the MVA, mentioned that they had one meeting over seat sharing for the state assembly elections and that many more meetings will take place in the coming days.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 13 Lok Sabha MPs plus one independent MP. Therefore, the Congress has a legitimate right to contest more seats in the state assembly elections. However, they are ready to adjust some seats for the larger interest of the alliance.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut stated that while the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had a higher strike rate than the Shiv Sena (UBT) in the Lok Sabha elections, no one could deny that Uddhav Thackeray was the face and star campaigner for the MVA in those elections. He said that the MVA together won 30 seats, while the BJP-led Mahayuti won only 17 seats, showing the support of the people, which he believes will continue in the state assembly elections.
On the other hand, in the Mahayuti, like in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has decided to contest more seats than its alliance partners as they are the main national party with the highest number of MLAs (105) in the current state assembly.
“The BJP wants to contest 150 seats while 138 seats will be shared between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's NCP in the state assembly elections.
However, the Shiv Sena is asking for 90 to 100 seats, and Ajit Pawar is demanding 90 seats, so all three parties need to resolve this seat-sharing issue; otherwise, it may cause damage if prolonged as it did in the Lok Sabha elections,” said a senior NCP leader who requested anonymity.