Mumbai: Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) is stuck in a tug-of-war over seat-sharing ahead of elections to 17 legislative council seats from Local Authorities’ Constituencies on 18 June.
Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar—formerly Aurangabad—and Pune have emerged as the key flashpoints. BJP has staked a claim on all three seats, two of which are currently held by Shiv Sena factions and one by NCP.
Nashik is represented by Narendra Darade of BJP ally Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar by Ambadas Danve of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), and Pune by Anil Bhosale of NCP.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis acknowledged the standoff Tuesday, but projected confidence. “We are locked with Shiv Sena on Nashik and Sambhajinagar and with NCP over Pune. But I’m sure we will be able to solve this crisis by discussion in the coming days,” he had said.
A Mahayuti meeting Tuesday to break the deadlock ended without result.
Alliance leaders are meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi Wednesday. “Shinde wants 7 seats, which is not possible. We are offering 3 at the moment but if Amit Shah intervenes, they can get one or two more,” a BJP leader told ThePrint.
The 17 MLC seats being contested are elected by members of municipal corporations and councils, zilla parishads, nagar panchayats and panchayat samitis. The constituencies in the fray are Pune, Ahilyanagar, Thane, Jalgaon, Sangli-Satara, Nanded, Yavatmal, Solapur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Amravati, Dharashiv-Latur-Beed, Parbhani-Hingoli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna and Nagpur.
The State Election Commission had announced biennial elections to 16 seats; and a bypoll to the Nagpur seat, vacated by the resignation of BJP’s Chandrashekhar Bawankule. The last date for filing nominations is 1 June.
The allies’ standoff comes months after the Mahayuti’s commanding performance in local body elections in the state, where the coalition won 8,239 of 12,201 seats, securing 67.5 percent of the total seats. BJP led the tally with 4,540 seats, ahead of Shiv Sena (1,888) and NCP (1,604).
The Opposition alliance—Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi—won 2,195 seats collectively, split between the Congress (1,300), Shiv Sena (UBT) (531) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) (364).
The Shinde demand
In the initial rounds of discussion for the 18 June polls, BJP offered Shiv Sena three seats and NCP two.
Eknath Shinde has demanded anywhere between five and seven seats, with this party targeting Thane, Jalgaon, Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Jalgaon has acquired a dynastic dimension: Sena leader Gulabrao Patil’s son is keen on the seat. “There is no wrong in asking for the seat. This is our right. But we will accept whatever decision will be taken by higher ups,” Patil said.
Shinde met Amit Shah in Delhi last Sunday, but a second BJP leader said the party was keen to retain the seats for itself.
“From what I understand, Shinde’s demands won’t be fulfilled as he is asking for seats where BJP is in a position to win by itself. If we concede, it would mean a similar demand from NCP,” the leader told ThePrint.
Shiv Sena’s stiffest resistance is over Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, which the party regards as its traditional strongholds. “We have enough corporators in these places who can get us through. Besides, they are our stronghold and we believe that we should get it. I am sure Shinde and Fadnavis will sit and solve these amicably,” a Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader told ThePrint.
NCP firm on Pune
NCP is equally firm on demanding Pune, a party stronghold, though it quickly moved to dismiss speculation that the son of Ajit and Sunetra Pawar, Jay, would be contesting the seat.
“There is no truth in Jay Pawar contesting the elections this time in Pune. The high command will choose a ground level karyakarta for this election. A decision will soon be taken by senior leaders of Mahayuti,” said party spokesperson Umesh Patil.
The NCP’s insistence on the seat rests on vote count. “We are going to insist that the Pune seat be given to us since numbers are important and we have them. Besides, this seat was of NCP earlier and will insist that it remains with us,” Patil added.
Separately, NCP is pressing for the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat for Aniket Tatkare, son of party leader Sunil Tatkare—a constituency currently held by the Shiv Sena.
Thane-Palghar
BJP appears to have already ceded Thane-Palghar to Shinde, despite pushback from its own ground-level leadership.
The numbers favour BJP: the party commands 444 votes in the local bodies there, against Shinde Sena’s 346.
Local leaders from Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayander met state ministers Ravindra Chavan and Ganesh Naik last week to press their case. They argue that in the last MLC election, Shinde’s Ravindra Phatak defeated Congress’s Vasant Davkhare to win the seat, and that gives Sena the right of first claim despite the numbers.
