Which coalition came out on top in the battle for seat agreement?
Assembly elections in Maharashtra are around the corner, but the distribution of seats in Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi or Mahayuti Gathbandhan is yet to be decided. Several rounds of meetings have been held between the two alliances to settle the seats, but no agreement has been reached over the fight.
Maharashtra has a total of 288 assembly constituencies, where elections can be held in October-November. There is a direct contest between Mahavikas Aghadi and Mahayuti Gathbandhan to form the government in the state.
Where are the problems in Mahayuti ie NDA?
Mahayuti means an alliance between the BJP and its allies. The alliance includes Ajit Pawar’s NCP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ramdas Athavale’s RPI. There has been a debate between these parties for a long time regarding the sharing of seats.
It is said that a comprehensive agreement has been reached regarding the distribution of seats in the Mahayuti. This may be finalized during Amit Shah’s visit to Maharashtra on 24th September.
According to the inputs received so far regarding the seat distribution in the NDA, the BJP will be playing the big brother role. BJP can contest on at least 140 seats. Ajit group of NCP may be given around 60 seats.
Similarly, Shiv Sena (Shinde) can contest on 80 seats. There are also strategies for RPI and other smaller parties to vacate some seats. However, seat sharing has many complications.
The first problem of seat sharing is Ajit Pawar’s claim. The Ajit group is gearing up to contest at least a number of Shinde’s seats. Apart from this, Pawar is claiming the seats of Marathwada and Western Maharashtra as well as Mumbai zone.
Similarly, Shiv Sena (Shinde) claims Konkan-Thane as well as Marathwada seats.
There is also a problem with the claim of Ramdas Athavale’s party. Athavale has recently demanded 12 seats. It is being said that it is not easy for BJP to ignore Athavale’s claim as well.
Where is the problem in Mahavikas Aghadi?
Mahavikas Aghadi means the coalition of Congress and its allies. Mahavikas Aghadi currently includes Congress along with Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. All the three parties have contested the Lok Sabha elections together.
According to senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, an agreement has been reached between the three parties on 130 seats. The remaining 158 seats are being resolved through dialogue. Congress claims that the problem is not resolved.
Congress is struggling to become the single largest party in Mahavikas Aghadi. The party is basing this on Lok Sabha figures. When Shiv Sena (Thackarey) says that Uddhav Thackeray is the face of the state, Shiv Sena cannot be sidelined.
Vidarbha and Mumbai seats have the highest tension in Mahavikas Aghadi. Mumbai is considered Thackeray’s stronghold and the Congress is claiming about 20 of the 36 seats here. Similarly, Shiv Sena (Thackeray) is also staking a claim on traditional Congress seats in Vidarbha.
There is also a problem regarding the Chief Minister’s chair.
Shiv Sena (Thackeray) demands that Uddhav Thackeray’s face be revealed. The Shiv Sena argues that the Mahavikas Aghadi was formed in 2019 in the face of Uddhav and the votes the Mahavikas Aghadi got were due to Uddhav’s sympathy.
On the other hand, Congress and Sharad Pawar’s party are talking about taking a decision about the Chief Minister after the elections. Both the parties say that this decision will be taken according to the seat. Due to this, the problem of seat sharing has also stopped.
