In Maharashtra’s political landscape, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction have been embroiled in a bitter spat over seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, illustrating their troubled alliance. Despite the BJP being the state’s single-largest party with 105 MLAs, it supported Eknath Shinde, who had the backing of only 44 MLAs, for the chief ministership. Devendra Fadnavis of BJP underscored the need for being realistic in the allocation of seats among alliance partners.
Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLA Sanjay Shirsat argued that the BJP’s rise to power was contingent on Shinde’s revolt and implied that both parties should share credit for their mutual need. He also recalled Uddhav Thackeray’s demand for an equal power-sharing arrangement with the BJP in 2019 which was reportedly denied by Amit Shah. Meanwhile, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar has taken a cautious approach to joining the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition amidst uncertainty over the allotment of seats. Prakash Ambedkar has hinted at reservations within the MVA regarding seat distribution and has refrained from revealing his party’s stance until the coalition finalizes its plans for 15 contentious seats.
MVA’s latest negotiations with VBA were labeled ‘positive’ by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, expressing satisfaction with VBA’s position on unseating the current central government. Despite this, Prakash Ambedkar highlighted the disjointed nature of discussions with the MVA and the complexity in settling on winnable seats, emphasizing the need for realignment given the shifting political landscape in the state. VBA, which turned into a significant anti-BJP entity post-Bhima-Koregaon clashes, demands a fair share of seats from the MVA, eyeing their preparedness to contest in 48 constituencies by focusing on 27 where they assert competitiveness.