Eknath Shinde And Ajit Pawar Facing Daunting Challenge On Seat Sharing

The Maharashtra BJP’s insistence to contest at least 160 seats in the 288-member legislative assembly election has posed a challenge for the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Deputy CM Aji Pawar since both will have to be content with just about 60 seats for each. The seat sharing talks within the ruling Mahayuti are at an advanced turn though the BJP’s position as the largest partner has been accepted by both. However, the tacit tussle to occupy the second position is now becoming apparent as Ajit Pawar has made it clear that his party will need to contest over 60 seats. Both parties have almost an equal strength in the outgoing house. The Mahayuti is more or less agreed on around a hundred seats but the substantial chunk is still under negotiations. While Shinde has established his own channel with New Delhi, Ajit’s public postures are becoming a matter of speculation. His latest displeasure with the purported anti-minority utterances by some Sena-BJP leaders and Shinde’s implied support of those leaders, though in a different context, has caused some discomfort in the Mahayuti camp. Ajit and Shinde are thus facing a daunting challenge since they will have to persuade their followers to accept the seat sharing formula. It is likely to be finalised during Union home minister Amit Shah’s scheduled visit to the state next week.