Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections 2024: With just a month left to go to the polls for the Maharashtra assembly elections, ruling party Mahayutthi and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi are engaged in intense seat-sharing discussions with their allies. Mahayuti consists of the BJP, Shiv Sena-Shinde and NCP-Ajit Pawar, while Maha Vikas Aghadi consists of Congress, NCP-Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena-Uddhav factions. The two sides have reached a seat-sharing agreement for the majority, but discussions are ongoing over at least 20-30 seats, which are claimed by each of the major parties.
MVA seat sharing status
Shiv Sena-UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said all three major parties in the MVA – Congress, NCP-Sharad Pawar and Sena-UBT are likely to get less than 100 seats each in the total 288 parliamentary seats. There are other smaller allies including the Samajwadi Party, the Left Party and the Farmers and Workers Party, who are likely to get 2-3 seats each. However, it is reported that the Congress party is determined to play the role of the big brother in the alliance and claims to compete for 110-115 parliamentary seats, citing its better performance in the Lok Sabha elections. If this happens, the Shiv Sena-UBT will have to come in second with about 85-86 seats and the NCP-SP in third with about 75 seats.
Congress leader Nana Patole said the alliance has finalized the allocation of 260 seats while the issue of 28 seats has been brought to the party high command as all three major allies have staked claims on these seats . The Central Election Committee of the Congress Party will hold a meeting on October 20 to finalize the candidate list and seat allocation agreement.
Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) is trying to get more seats in its stronghold of Mumbai and Konkan region. Meanwhile, the Congress is aiming to allocate more seats in Vidarbha and the region is expected to perform strongly. The NCP(SP), on the other hand, continues to focus on western Maharashtra, seeking to maintain its influence in this important agricultural region.
Seat sharing status in Mahayutti
The Mahayoti Alliance said it would announce its seat-sharing plan soon. Mahayut’s alliance partners are expected to retain the constituencies they held in the outgoing parliament – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 102 seats, the Shiv Sena (Eknath) with 38 seats, and the National Communist Party (NCP) ) has 40 seats. The seat allocation agreement for the remaining 76 constituencies will be announced soon.