Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the ruling Mahayuti alliance is working on a seat-sharing formula under which Ajit Pawar's NCP is likely to get three seats in Mumbai, said sources. As per sources, these three seats are Anushakti Nagar, Bandra East and Shivaji Mankhurd.
Whereas, the BJP is likely to get 18 and CM Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena is to get 15 seats. Notably, there are 36 assembly constituencies in Mumbai's City and Suburban areas. Moreover, the sources also suggest that BJP may not give party tickets to 3-4 sitting MLAs.
Mahayuti finalises seat-sharing
Sources also suggest that the seat-sharing among Mahayuti parties has been finalised. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his two deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah late on Friday night. The late-evening huddle of the top leaders of the Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra with BJP strategist Shah came at a time when seat-sharing talks among the ruling constituents in the state were at a crucial juncture.
According to sources, all three alliance partners have agreed to continue with Eknath Shinde as CM face. Sources also added if voted back to power, all three parties in the alliance have agreed to get the equal number of ministries.
Maharashtra Assembly elections
The Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20. The votes for the state will be counted on November 23. The BJP is keen to retain power in Maharashtra along with allies Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is facing a challenge from the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Congress-NCPSP-Shiv SenaUBT, which hopes to repeat its performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The opposition MVA alliance won 31 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections.
