A vendor shows political badges of BJP and Congress at a shop, ahead of Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Nagpur
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The gazette notification for single-phase elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly was issued on Tuesday, however, the seat-sharing of the two main alliances - ruling Maha Yuti (NDA) and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) is yet to be announced.
Moreover, resentment is brewing up in both the camps as the list of aspirants is growing by the day.
In the MVA camp, where friction has come out in the open, the Congress leadership held discussions with NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray.
At the instance of AICC general secretary Ramesh Chennithala, Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat has extensive discussions with Pawar and Thackeray.
“We hope that a solution is in sight…we are making progress and would like to close the deal as soon as possible,” state Congress President Nana Patole said, pointing out that seat sharing takes time.
“Everything is okay…everything will be finalised,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
A day earlier, Raut said that the MVA had reached a consensus on 210 seats, while Patole claimed that discussions had been completed on 96 seats.
The Maha Yuti too is yet to announce the seat-sharing deal and the BJP-led group too seems to have almost reached the final stage of talks.
The BJP, which is expected to contest 150 to 155 seats, has already announced its first list of 99 candidates - which features Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar have finalised their respective first list of candidates, which is expected to be released soon.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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