Elections are to be held for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. The electoral contest is between MVA and Mahayuti. Talking about Mahayuti, there is widespread resentment over seat sharing in this BJP-led alliance. BJP and Ajit Pawar's NCP are competing on 21 seats.
Assembly elections are to be held in Maharashtra later this year. There are 288 assembly seats in the state. The two major alliances in the state, Mahayuti and Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA), are competing for seats. Who will contest from where, who will be given tickets…these questions are before MVA and Mahayuti. Talking about Mahayuti, there is a tussle going on in this BJP-led alliance regarding seat sharing. There is a contest between BJP and Ajit Pawar's NCP on 21 seats. These are the seats where both the parties are on equal footing. In the 2019 assembly elections, there was a tough competition between the two on these seats, due to which both the parties are staking their claim on these seats. Most of these seats are from Western Maharashtra.
Indapur, Kagal, Ahmedpur, Amalner, Arjuni Morgaon, Aheri, Vikramgad seats are where trouble is brewing. At least four senior leaders of both the parties have spoken openly against each other. Many of them are on the verge of leaving the party. This conflict is expected to increase as the elections come closer. BJP leaders Harshvardhan Patil, Samarjit Ghatge and Ganesh Hek have given their opinion on these meetings. NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Ramraj Naik Nimbalkar has given a statement against the BJP. Patil and Ghatge are keen to contest from Indapur and Kagal assembly seats respectively. Both these leaders are going to join Sharad Pawar's faction, as they claim that these seats are with Ajit Pawar.
Patil and Ghatge lost the 2019 assembly elections. NCP candidates defeated them. This time when they thought they could win, they were told that this seat could go to the NCP's account. Hek is eyeing Ahmedpur seat in Latur. He has also given a statement against the alliance with NCP. He said that if this continues, BJP will have to pay a heavy price for it.
NCP may contest 60-65 seats
It is being said that NCP will get 60 seats under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. At the same time, Ajit Pawar faction is expressing the desire to contest elections on more than 60 seats. Under this, a meeting of Ajit Pawar faction was held recently. According to sources, this meeting of the party was held at Praful Patel's house. In this meeting, the seat sharing in the grand alliance was discussed. This was the meeting of Ajit Pawar faction after meeting Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis. In this meeting, the leaders of Ajit Pawar faction commented on contesting elections on more than 60 seats. According to sources, Ajit Pawar will get only 60 to 65 seats from the grand alliance. In such a situation, dissatisfaction is being seen in the grand alliance regarding the seat sharing.
NCP has 54 MLAs. Along with this, Ajit Pawar is claiming that 3 Congress and independent MLAs are also with him. This is the reason why Ajit Pawar is preparing to contest more than 60 elections. On the other hand, BJP is planning to contest on more than 150 seats. Therefore, there is resentment in the Mahayuti regarding seat sharing. Also, now the focus of the political corridors is on how the issue of seat sharing in the assembly will be resolved.