Mumbai:
Finalizing seat distribution in Maharashtra, which sends the second-highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha, has proven difficult for the National Democratic Alliance, with all three key partners – the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the party of Ajit Pawar. NCP – insists on a higher number of seats than the others are willing to concede. While BJP's chief troubleshooter and Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with leaders of the other parties late on Tuesday evening, sources said a breakthrough is expected soon.
Party sources said the meeting started around 10.15 pm and Mr Shah held a discussion with Deputy Chief Minister Pawar for the first 30 minutes in the presence of BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after which the two leaders left. For the next 50 minutes, there were talks between the Home Minister and Chief Minister Shinde.
Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP wants 30 to achieve its dual target of winning 370 seats nationally and taking the NDA to the 400 mark. Sources said the party is willing to give up 12 seats to the Shiv Sena and six to the NCP, a prospect that the other partners of the Mahayuti – as the alliance is known in Maharashtra – are not happy with.
Noting that the Sena symbol and name are with him, Prime Minister Shinde, sources said, has pushed for the allotment of 23 seats, the same number that the undivided Shiv Sena had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – before the bifurcation in 2022. Failing that, Mr Shinde and his party are reportedly willing to settle for 18 seats, which the Shiv Sena had won in the last Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP's constituency division with the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had caused heartburn on both sides even in 2019. The National Party had contested 25 seats and won 23, while the Sena had contested 23 seats and won 18. The BJP camp, sources said. , believes it is entitled to a bigger share than last time, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and the fact that it is the largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly.
Complicating matters, however, is the entry of Ajit Pawar's NCP, which joined the government last year and is pushing for 10 Lok Sabha seats. The then Sharad Pawar-led United NCP had won only four in 2019.
Contested seats
Sources say while consensus is emerging on most other seats, 10 appear to be points of contention. These are Kalyan, South Mumbai, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Shirur, Amravati, Sambhajinagar Nagar, Hingoli, Nashik, Ramtek and Maval
In Kalyan, Prime Minister Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde is the sitting MP but the local unit of the BJP wants to contest from the constituency. The BJP claims that Kalyan is a traditional seat of the party which it had given to Shiv Sena in 2019 under pressure from Uddhav Thackeray. Union Minister Anurag Thakur had also conducted a review of the constituency and informed the central leadership.
Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is the sitting MP from the South Mumbai constituency and the Shinde faction is keen to contest it as it is traditionally a Sena seat. However, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar of the BJP has also shown interest.
In Maval of Pune district, Shrirang Barne of the Shinde Sena is the sitting MP. But Ajit Pawar is keen on this seat as his son, Parth Pawar, lost to Mr Barne in 2019.
Ratnagiri-Sindhadurg in the Konkan region is a Shiv Sena seat, but Narayan Rane claimed it for the BJP last week in a post on wanted to eliminate. the Lok Sabha elections alone.
Shirur in Pune district appears to be another problem spot. NCP's Amol Kolhe (Sharadchanrd Pawar) is the sitting MP and the seat is now claimed by the Ajit Pawar faction. The intention to defeat Mr Kolhe has been announced by Mr Pawar himself, but former MP Shivaji Adhalrao Patil of Mr Shinde's Shiv Sena is also keen to throw his hat in the ring.
Navneet Rana is the independent MP from Vidarbha's Amravati and the BJP has offered her the constituency to contest on her ticket. The Shinde Sena's Anandrao Adsul, a former MP, has also claimed the seat.
Sambhaji Nagar in Aurangabad is the only seat won by the AIMIM in Maharashtra and Imtiaz Jaleel is the sitting MP. While the constituency is traditionally contested by the Shiv Sena, which plans to field minister Sandeepan Bhumre, the BJP wants to go for Union Finance Minister Bhagwat Karad.
One seat that is being eyed by all three members of the Mahayuti is Nashik. Hemant Godse of the Shiv Sena's Shinde faction is the sitting MP, but the NCP is keen to field someone from minister Chhagan Bhujbal's family and the BJP has also staked a claim.
In Hingoli in Aurangabad, Sena's Hemant Patil is the sitting MP. He had offered to resign amid the Maratha reservation protest. However, the BJP is also interested in fielding its candidate.
Krupal Tumane of the Sena is the sitting MP from Ramtek in Nagpur seat but the local BJP cadre wants the constituency for the party. However, they are ready to settle for Tumane fighting on a BJP ticket, sources said.