Nagpur: The BJP’s first list of candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections will be out very soon as issues regarding half of the contentious seats have been resolved, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday.
Notably, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi late Friday night to iron out differences among the allies BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP over the sharing of seats for the elections.
“The discussion on seat-sharing is in the last stage. The discussions held yesterday were very positive. More than half of the contentious seats have been cleared and only a few constituencies are left which will be cleared within two days. The BJP’s first list can come any time very soon,” Fadnavis told reporters at Nagpur airport.
Sources indicate that the late-night meeting, lasting nearly four hours, resulted in agreements on the seat-sharing formula and candidate placements. An official announcement is expected soon, likely through a joint press conference by the alliance.
Additionally, the parties agreed to swap seats to address anti-incumbency issues, ensuring a strategic approach to their campaigns. Earlier on October 15, Sena MP and Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde called on party workers to take the message of the Sena to all quarters.
“It’s just a question of working for one month, we want a Mahayuti government again in Maharashtra. We just need to go to the people and make them aware of the government schemes. Today the environment in the state is very goo. No matter how much the opposition may abuse him, the people have great love for Eknath Shinde. Those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth will not know the problems of the people. Ours is a government that gives and does not take,” he said.
After the recent announcement of the assembly election dates in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena convened a meeting with its office bearers on Friday. In the meeting, there was a strong push for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to be presented as the face for the chief ministerial position, a move that signals the party’s strategy as it prepares for the upcoming elections.
According to a source, the BJP is expected to contest around 150-160 seats, while Shiv Sena will likely contest 75-85 seats, and the NCP is poised to run in approximately 48-55 constituencies.
The alliance is set to reveal detailed seat-sharing information in a press conference shortly.
