Maharashtra Assembly Elections: Amit Shah departs amidst questions over Mahayuti seat-sharing

HM Amit Shah bids farewell to state BJP leaders on Wednesday. Pic/X

Union minister Amit Shah departed the city on Wednesday, leaving several questions about the Mahayuti seat-sharing arrangement unanswered. It is said that both Shinde Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) have demanded more seats from him.

Shah held several meetings over Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. He met the alliance leaders Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar separately. The focus was on resolving the issue of disputed constituencies. If the BJP gets 155 of Maharashtra's 288 Assembly seats, the Sena and NCP will have to share the remaining 133 seats. But there are some seats where the presence of several claimants has made seat-sharing a delicate matter.

Shinde met Shah with his plan highlighting Shiv Sena's winnability in constituencies he wants for his party. He requested that the issue be resolved without delay because the late announcement of Lok Sabha election candidates had created serious problems. The CM is learnt to have returned with Shah's advice for unity in the alliance.

People in the know said that Ajit Pawar has been pushing for more seats than promised. He met Shah with his concern. The Shinde camp is confident of getting more seats than Pawar's NCP, which wants to get a little less, if not more, than the CM's number.

‘There is time for 2029'

Meanwhile, Shah's remark that the Mahayuti would win in 2024, but five years later, the BJP would form the government on its own received a mixed response from the allies. Shinde said very briefly that there was time for 2029, but the Mahayuti would be victorious in 2024. Ajit Pawar said the state hadn't had a single-party government for 40 years, because of its unique political situation.