Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during the 'Mahayuti' alliance meeting.
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: Keeping the tab open for the position of the chief minister, the BJP is close to stitching up a seat-sharing arrangement with its alliance partners in Maharashtra, intending to keep a lion’s share of seats with itself.
Sources involved in the talks with partners of the Mahayuti Alliance said that several rounds of talks took place to finalise seats for the 288-member assembly, and talks over only a handful remain now.
A senior BJP leader involved in the talks said that the party intends to keep 160-170 for itself, setting aside around 70 to Shiv Sena (Eknath faction). “Apart from that, over 5-7 seats will be given to Ramdas Athawale, leaving aside the rest for the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit faction),” the leader said.
The alliance partners have been demanding more seats; in the last few days, the NCP has publicly demanded 60-70 seats, while Athawale has gone on record asking for 10-15 seats.
The leader quoted above said that the compulsions of alliance politics means that not every partner will get what they want.
“Winnability is the key factor; if a sitting MLA has less chances of winning, there is a higher chance of them not being repeated,” the leader said. Only a small fraction will not be repeated, he added.
A key development is that the BJP will keep the contest for the chief ministerial post open.
“The single largest party should have the bid for the post, without any doubt,” the leader said. While the BJP has been trying to stave off attempts from the alliance partners, the contest for the top post within its own leaders is not an easy contest either. While Devendra Fadnavis has been making a mark, it remains to be seen whether the leadership will make way for him.
Leaders also said that development will be the primary plank for the alliance. “We have done a lot of development work – work on the metro’s third line will be started soon, the bullet train as well as a plethora of development projects stand for the work we have done,” the leader said.
While development has been a key plank, the BJP’s proposal for the Dharavi redevelopment plan has made it unpopular among a section of people. The party’s struggles in the recent Lok Sabha polls – where it won only 9 of the 28 seats it contested in – indicate that it is not that easy for the saffron party.