Maharashtra: There is Great Uneasiness in Seat Sharing Among Other Parties.
Seat distribution of political parties in Maharashtra
Maharashtra: Everything has changed in Maharashtra since 2019. After Shiv Sena and NCP split into two groups, four local parties are fighting for supremacy in the 2024 elections. Almost two weeks before the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, the political turmoil in Maharashtra is full of unexpected turns. There is a lot of internal discord between the coalition partners of both parties. But the rumor spread rapidly in the weekly that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has disappeared from the public eye. A regional news channel even claimed that he was unavailable for more than 36 hours after the dispute with the BJP leader.
There is a period of tension going on not only in the ruling alliance but also in the opposition alliance. When Shiv Senna UBT faction leader Uddhav Thackeray suddenly announced the names of its 17 candidates, the Congress said the party was shocked by the announcement, saying it was not properly consulted. Most observers did not expect such turmoil among the Maharashtra alliance, as only a few weeks earlier the coalition partners had Everything seemed to be fine, with the seat-sharing formula among the coalition partners being finalized almost without any controversy. Now there is tension.
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Undoubtedly, everything has changed in Maharashtra politics since 2019, and after Shiv Sena as well as Sharad Pawar’s NCP got divided into two groups, now four parties or four groups are trying to establish their dominance in the 2024 election battle. Fighting for. Apart from these, in the last two elections in the state, small parties and independent candidates have also emerged, who are fighting with enthusiasm.
This election battle has become multi-coloured. Of course, the BJP is the biggest player in the state with the maximum number of seats in the assembly, with the Congress now relegated to the second position as Shiv Sena and the ,NCP split into two groups. On the other hand, Uddhav of Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi had secured about 4 percent of the votes in many constituencies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and along with independents, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AI MIM has also increased the uncertainty.
Eknath Shinde worried about seat sharing in Maharashtra government
Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena was not anticipating any major dispute with the BJP over Lok Sabha seat sharing, as top BJP leader in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has shared good relations with Shinde since forming the grand alliance government two years ago. However, Ajit Pawar’s sudden entry into the ruling coalition in July last year has stabilized the situation. Ever since, Ajit Pawar and his MLAs have started dominating the government’s decisions. Since then, Eknath Shinde seems angry.
Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena was not anticipating any major dispute with the BJP over Lok Sabha seat sharing, as top BJP leader in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has shared good relations with Shinde since forming the grand alliance government two years ago. However, Ajit Pawar’s sudden entry into the ruling coalition in July last year has stabilized the situation. Ever since, Ajit Pawar and his MLAs have started dominating the government’s decisions. Since then, Eknath Shinde seems angry.
Shinde's big concern is that how will he accommodate all the 13 Lok Sabha members who left Uddhav Thackeray and joined him and the bigger concern is that what will happen if the same trend continues in the future? He has to respect each one of his 40 MLAs who have come with him.
However, some seats will remain a cause of dispute between Shinde and BJP. About a month ago, suddenly BJP started putting pressure on Shinde not to field Kirtikar of Gajanan in Mumbai North West. Shinde and Kirtikar are close, which became difficult for Shinde.
Similarly, last week Shinde was suddenly told that Bollywood actor Govinda should be included in his party. Now Shinde group can make Govind contest from North West constituency. Well, Mumbai is not the only place where Eknath Shinde is facing restlessness.
Disagreement regarding the candidates has also started reaching serious levels. On behalf of BJP, this message is being given to all the members of Shinde's Shiv Sena that BJP is taking the final decision regarding the candidate as well as the election symbol.
It is clear that most of Shinde's MPs and MLAs are very worried that BJP is dominating every small thing in the Lok Sabha elections and is micromanaging, this is visible in Vidarbha region also. Some insiders say that Shinde looks calm in public but is very restless and upset. Now it remains to be seen whether his restlessness will translate into action or whether he will continue to work in alliance with the BJP.
Well, everything is not going well between Congress and Uddhav Thackeray. The Congress was set to announce the names of former Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad as its candidates in South Central Mumbai and Vishal Patil in Sangli, which was a Congress stronghold before the Modi wave in 2014.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan also expressed surprise at the Uddhav camp's sudden announcement of the candidature of former Rajya Sabha member Anil Desai from South Central Mumbai and wrestler Chandrahar Patil from Sangli.
The top leadership of the state reportedly consulted the Congress high command about the possibility of fielding its candidates in Sangli and South Central Mumbai as well. Obviously, Uddhav wants to retain his hold in Mumbai by contesting elections from South Mumbai, South Central Mumbai and North West Mumbai, while leaving only three seats for the other two alliance partners, Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP.
Obviously, Uddhav keeps the party's interests in mind for the city's municipal corporation elections along with the assembly elections later this year and next year.
