Mahayuti seat-sharing pact finalised, BJP to get majority share: Sources

The ruling Mahayuti alliance has finalised its seat-sharing agreement for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly election, sources said. The three parties — BJP, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — reached an understanding on seat-sharing, with the BJP likely to get the majority of seats in the agreement.
As per the seat-sharing pact, the BJP is likely to get 152-155 seats, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will get 78-80 seats, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP will get 52-54 seats, sources said.
The seat-sharing deal was sealed at a high-level meeting at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence in Delhi, sources said.
The BJP has already released its first list of 99 candidates. The Shiv Sena and NCP are yet to release their candidate lists.
According to sources, some leaders of the Mahayuti alliance were upset over not getting their preferred seat to contest. Apart from the apparent dissatisfaction among the Shiv Sena over seat preference, some BJP leaders were also miffed after other candidates got a ticket to contest from those seats they were eyeing.
BJP’s Ravindra Chavan, a state minister, has been fielded from Dombivali again, a constituency he has been representing since 2014. Dipesh Mhatre, a local leader from Dombivali belonging to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, was reportedly keen to contest from Dombivali but has switched over to Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
The BJP is considering replicating in Maharashtra its Haryana poll strategy, which helped the party win despite facing a 10-year anti-incumbency, sources told India Today TV.
The BJP fought the Haryana polls with Nayab Singh Saini as its face, considering the sitting Chief Minister’s popularity and acceptability among the people. In Maharashtra, the BJP reckons that Eknath Shinde enjoys a similar popularity, which is why they are keen on projecting the Shiv Sena leader as the face of the Mahayuti alliance.
Election to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will be held in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes will be held on November 23.