Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India TV.
The Mahayuti seat dispute in Maharashtra was resolved in Delhi. It has been decided that the BJP will leave a few more seats for Ajit Pawar’s NCP. But the final distribution of seats in Mahavikas Aghadi is yet to be done. Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel had arrived in Delhi on Wednesday night for final talks on seat sharing in Mahayuti.
The meeting with Amit Shah lasted about three hours. Since decisions have already been made on 182 out of 288 seats, the three parties have also announced candidates for them. Of the remaining 106 seats, the majority would be split between the BJP and Shinde’s party. Ajit Pawar was not happy with this. He demanded more seats for the NCP. Amit Shah told the leaders of the three parties in the meeting that the seats will be decided but first decide that after the announcement of the candidates, no rebel candidate of any party will contest the elections, it is the responsibility to convince their angry leaders. It will be the party’s because the rebel candidates cause the biggest loss.
Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde agreed on this. The three parties agreed on 83 seats out of 106, but the issue became complicated in 23 seats. Most of the controversy centered on the Mumbai seats. It was decided that Ajit Pawar would get more seats than before and secondly, BJP would contest 20 seats in Mumbai and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena would contest 13 seats.
Ajit Pawar’s problem is that there are many powerful leaders in his NCP, all of whom want to get tickets for their sons, daughters, brothers and nephews. If the seat does not go to Ajit Dada, then this leader will immediately field his candidate and then seek a NCP ticket from Sharad Pawar. Amit Shah said there should not be a rebellion and put the responsibility on the shoulders of Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, but it will not be that easy because the leaders of both Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena have other options available.
To some extent, this will happen in the BJP too, but if the RSS organization and people try, they will convince the rebels. Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar have a big advantage. Shiv Sena’s original symbol Teer Kaman is with Shinde army and NCP’s original symbol Ghadi is with Ajit Pawar. On the other hand, the fight against Mahavikas Aghadi is not just about the distribution of seats. The issue is much bigger than this. The root of the seat dispute lies in who will sit in the CM’s chair if Aghadi wins the elections.
Speaking at India TV’s ‘Chunav Manch’ in Mumbai, Aditya Thackeray said that the face of Mahavikas Aghadi will be known after the seat distribution. But at the same time he also said that the people of Maharashtra still remember the Uddhav Thackeray government. In ‘Chunav Manch’, another leader of Uddhav’s party, Priyanka Chaturvedi, claimed that Uddhav Thackeray is at the forefront of the popularity charts. He said not announcing the name of the Chief Minister is part of the strategy. I think the fight before Mahavikas Aghadi is not just about the distribution of seats. The root of the seat dispute lies in who will sit in the CM’s chair if Aghadi wins the elections. Uddhav is the biggest contender. But this is also Mahayuti’s problem. There are three candidates each for the post of Chief Minister here. Shinde is there today, but if he wins the elections, the BJP will have more seats and Fadnavis will say, I will come back. Ajit Dada also has a dream. (Rajat Sharma)
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