‘Maha’ Coalition Conundrum? Shinde Wants Konkan, Marathwada But BJP, Ajit Pawar Unwilling to Relent in Seat Sharing

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in Maharashtra are all set to give the finishing touches to their seat-sharing agreement ahead of making it public either in New Delhi or Mumbai. Ahead of the disclosure of the arrangement, News18 has learnt which party is likely to get the bulk of seats from which region in Maharashtra.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has laid its claims on seats from Vidharbha, North Maharashtra, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. However, sources have told News18 that some areas are claimed by multiple allies.

For instance, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is claimed by both the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. Similarly, seats from Marathwada — a Maratha stronghold — are being sought by both the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP and the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. While the Shinde faction has also expressed its intent to field some of its candidates from the Konkan region — a region the BJP has eyed ­— the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP remains the sole claimant for seats in Western Maharashtra, sources suggest.

The coastal Konkan division in Maharashtra, spread from Sindhudurg to Mumbai, also covers Palghar, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Mahayuti alliance of Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP bagged seven seats. BJP is betting big on its Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Narayan Rane to get them a clean sweep in Konkan. However, it needs to convince ally Sena before the move.

Similarly, Vidarbha, North Maharashtra, Marathwada, and Western Maharashtra hold political significance. For instance, Vidharbha may be in the headlines for droughts during peak summers, but it gives 62 assembly seats, adding to its political heft. What further adds to Vidharbha’s stature is that deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP’s state president Chandrashekar Bawankule hail from the area.

Meanwhile, Marathwada too adds 46 assembly seats and has, over the last five years, risen in stature for being the silent — and sometimes not so silent — hotbed of Maratha agitation. In the North Maharashtra region that provides 47 seats, BJP has laid its claim on a substantial chunk if seats, say sources. Known as the ‘Onion Belt’, the area has one of the BJP’s most known faces — Girish Mahajan — as well as NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal.

With BJP holding its CEC meeting to finalise its Maharashtra candidate list in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, it will try to lay claim to a big pound of flesh, even while it talks of giving every ally “respectable” seats.

Voting will be held on all 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra on November 20 and results will be declared on November 23.