Maha muddle: Mahayuti, MVA struggle to break seat-sharing impasse | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: It has been six days since the Election Commission announced dates for the Maharashtra assembly elections, but neither the ruling Mahayuti nor the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has finalised seat-sharing pact for the “maha” battle of ballots. Leaders of both the alliances claim that they are close to sealing a deal, but the lack of formal announcement suggests they are yet to cross the final hurdle.
The ruling Mahayuti is still in talks to reach a consensus.However, the BJP, which is the largest party of the alliance, has gone ahead and released its first list of 99 candidates. With this move, the BJP has stamped its dominance in Mahayuti and has also sent out a clear message to its allies, especially the Shiv Sena. In 2022, when the Mahayuti government was formed, BJP made Eknath Shinde the chief minister despite Shiv Sena being the junior partner of the alliance.
However, the saffron party has given ample indications that it will not cede too much ground when it comes to seat sharing for the assembly polls. Maharashtra BJP president had earlier said that chief minister Eknath Shinde should be willing to make “sacrifices”, in terms of seat-sharing for the assembly polls, just like the BJP did to keep the alliance intact.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 105 seats. According to reports, the BJP will contest around 150 to 155 seats, while the Shiv Sena will get 75 to 80 seats. The rest will be left for Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is the third partner of the Mahayuti.
The opposition MVA, on the other hand, has also been engaged in hectic, at times bitter, negotiations to end the deadlock as the three partners – Congress, Uddhav Thackeray‘s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar‘s NCP-SP make claims and counterclaims on overlapping seats. At one point, Uddhav’s party leaders refused to negotiate with state Congress chief Nana Patole accusing him of being unreasonable.
The Congress was upbeat about its prospects after its success in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. However, its shocking reverses in Haryana would have taken away some of its bargaining power.
In Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was the biggest gainer winning 13 seats – the most by any party. The Shiv Sena (UBT) with 9 and NCP (SP) with 8 together took the MVA tally to 30 out of 48. Riding on this success, the Congress had flexed its muscles initially. But then came the Haryana drubbing, where the BJP once again trumped the grand old party in a direct contest. This once again put the Congress under pressure. More so, because the grand old party did not accommodate its allies in Haryana.
But more than that – the Haryana drubbing has neutralised the “psychological” edge which the MVA had gained over Mahayuti after the Lok Sabha elections. The Mahayuti leaders have been quick to learn their lessons from Nayab Singh Saini’s historic win in Haryana and have aggressively reached out to all sections before the election dates were announced.
For both the alliances, any further delay in announcement of seat-sharing pacts may also impact their campaigns as it would convey conflicting signals to its cadres, who would be needed to work together for victory.