Mumbai: As nominations for the 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats open on Monday, the deadlock over seat-sharing within the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance — comprising the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP — continues unresolved. Amid the impasse, Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is reportedly keen to meet the BJP’s top leadership over the distribution of MLC seats.
Sources said Mr Shinde is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Delhi. The meeting is expected to include discussions on seat-sharing and the exchange of constituencies ahead of the June 18 Legislative Council elections.
Reacting to the speculation, Shiv Sena leader and Cabinet minister Sanjay Shirsat dismissed reports linking Mr Shinde’s Delhi visit to the Legislative Council polls. He said the visit was related to “important departmental work” and not specifically to seat-sharing negotiations.
“It does not sound convincing that someone would travel to Delhi only to discuss Legislative Council elections,” Mr Shirsat said.
He added that discussions among senior Mahayuti leaders regarding seat allocation were still underway and no final decision had been taken on how many seats each alliance partner would contest.
“Various discussions are going on regarding the 17 Legislative Council seats. There is no final decision yet on how many seats each ally will get. The issue will be resolved only after a meeting among Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar. Therefore, there is no point in discussing this issue (seat distribution) at present,” Mr Shirsat said.
Senior BJP leader and Cabinet minister Girish Mahajan said preliminary discussions on the 17 seats had already taken place among Mahayuti leaders. He said each constituent party had submitted its assessment report to its respective leadership.
“We have submitted our report to Devendra Fadnavis. Similarly, Shiv Sena and NCP leaders have submitted their reports to Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar. All three leaders will sit together and take a decision on seat distribution,” he said.
According to sources, the ruling Mahayuti alliance has broadly worked out a preliminary seat-sharing formula for the 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats scheduled for June 18.
As per the preliminary discussions, the BJP is likely to contest 12 seats, while the Shiv Sena and the NCP may contest three and two seats respectively. However, disagreements reportedly persist over one or two seats.
Sources said the Shiv Sena has demanded seven seats, arguing that it enjoys strong support in Thane, Raigad, Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Nashik and Yavatmal. However, BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar has asserted that the Thane seat should go to the BJP, claiming the party has a stronger organisational base in the constituency.
According to Mr Kelkar, the BJP has 444 corporators in the region, compared to 346 corporators belonging to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Jijau organisation combined.
Of the 17 MLC seats going to polls, the BJP currently holds seven, the Shiv Sena five, the NCP three and the Congress two. However, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena has laid claim to the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Jalgaon seats, while the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP is reportedly unwilling to give up the Raigad constituency.
Sources added that the Shiv Sena’s demand for seven seats, against the BJP’s reported willingness to allocate only four, has fuelled speculation that Mr Shinde may raise the matter with the BJP’s central leadership during his Delhi visit.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
