Maharashtra seat-sharing jigsaw proving tricky for BJP, allies; 15 seats up in the air

Maharashtra goes to the polls in the first five phases starting April 19 but the ruling Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have still not been able to divide the seats amicably between themselves, with candidates yet to be declared for 15 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP, which has set an ambitious target of winning 370 seats and more than 400 for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has so far declared candidates for 24 seats while the Sena has announced eight nominees. The NCP has formally announced only the candidature of Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra from Baramati.

Ruling alliance insiders said Nashik, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Thane, Osmanabad, Palghar, and Mumbai South were proving to be the tricky constituencies for the ruling alliance. Apart from these constituencies, candidates have not been announced for Parbhani, Aurangabad, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North Central, Raigad, Shirur, Kalyan, and Yavatmal-Washim.

The NCP has staked claim over Satara even as the BJP is planning to field its Rajya Sabha MP and Chhatrapati Shivaji’s descendant Udayanraje Bhosale. Sources said the NCP suggested Bhosale contest on its ticket but he is learnt to have declined the offer and sought a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to plead his case.

To settle the issue, the BJP has decided to retain Satara and give Nashik to the NCP, where the party is likely to field its senior leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal. But the move has reportedly not gone down well with sitting Nashik MP Hemant Godse of the Sena who has held a series of meetings with Shinde to discuss the matter.

In 2019, Palghar, which is seen as a BJP stronghold