Amit Shah heading to Maharashtra as NDA’s seat-sharing troubles, BJP discontent mount

Amid reports of bickering in Maharashtra among the ruling NDA partners over seat-sharing besides internal differences within the BJP, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in the state Tuesday in a bid to resolve these issues, especially those related to Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra.

Shah’s visit comes days after the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in which no candidate from Maharashtra figured. During his day-long visit, Shah will hold strategy and pre-poll meetings in Akola (Vidarbha), will address a youth conclave in Jalgaon (North Maharashtra) and a public rally in Sambhajinagar (Marathwada).

While the BJP has officially stated that Shah’s visit is to launch the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state, insiders say it is aimed at resolving differences of the ruling coalition and “tying loose ends”. A party insider said there were issues in some seats with alliance partners in Maharashtra, which need to be settled before the announcement of the candidates. “Shah’s visit will end the problems,” the leader said.

State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Shah will be holding a meeting in Akola of Vidarbha region where key constituencies like Akola, Buldhana, Amravati, Chandrapur and Wardha will be reviewed in detail. The BJP is reportedly facing troubles with allies or candidates in most of these constituencies.

The Amravati seat, which is currently held by Independent MP Navneet Rana, seems to be a bone of contention between Mahayuti partners – BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar). Though Rana has agreed to contest the polls on a BJP ticket, a case regarding her using “fraudulent means” to obtain a Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate