CM Shinde, Dy CMs Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar hold seat-sharing talks; consensus on 173 seats

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar held seat-sharing talks in Nagpur for the upcoming state Assembly polls, which are likely to be held in October-November.

The meeting, which lasted for around three hours as per BJP sources, was held on Saturday.

“Yesterday’s meeting was in line with the previous two-three rounds of initial discussions that took place. The final seat sharing will be sealed after another two to three meetings,” the sources said.

Sources from the NCP said consensus has been arrived for 173 seats, with BJP getting the maximum share, followed by Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Ajit Pawar-led party.

The remaining 115 seats will be finalised soon in a meeting of Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, CM Shinde as well as senior NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel, they added.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said seat-sharing talks for the Assembly polls between the ruling allies will conclude in 10 days.

Chances of winning and not the number of seats contested will be the criteria, he told reporters in Nagpur.

“The seat-sharing talks in Mahayuti will conclude in 10 days. We have decided that seats will be allotted on the basis of winnability. We will leave some seats for our allies. How many each will contest is not important. What is important is to have double engine government to ensure continuity of welfare schemes,” he said.

Bawankule also said directives have been issued to all BJP functionaries to not make comments that could cause discord in the alliance, which also comprises Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Those violating this diktat will face strict action from the party, Bawankule added.