BJP eyes 160 seats, Sena likely to get 80, NCP around 50

MUMBAI: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing November 20 as Maharashtra’s date for assembly polls, the ruling Mahayuti alliance, on a high after key constituent BJP’s surprise victory in Haryana, is focused on ensuring an equitable seat sharing, and better co-ordination between the partners.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the largest among the three allies, is expected to contest between 155 and 160 seats, while the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), with equal number of sitting MLAs are likely to contest from 85 and 45-50 seats respectively, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The skewed share between NCP and Sena stems from the former’s poor show in the Lok Sabha elections – the party won one of the four seats it had contested while the Sena won seven of the 15 LS seats it did. Some of the NCP’s sitting MLAs are also believed to be considering a shift to the NCP (SP).
The people familiar with the matter added that smaller allies such as RPI (A), Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), Jan Surajya Shakti and independents will be allocated seats from the quota of the alliance partner they are with.
The BJP, which won 105 of the 164 seats it contested in 2019, is looking to contest in around 160 seats .
“It is important to contest more seats to win more in the election, though the strike rate is crucial. Ours is the real pan-Maharahstra party, having won over 70% of the urban and rural local bodies in the last local body elections,” said a BJP leader requesting anonymity. “We need to keep the cadre charged up, and hence, cannot afford to fight fewer than 155 seats. Also, we need to keep a sizeable gap between our and Sena’s numbers so that we can claim the top post.”
To be sure, there’s been no call on the chief ministerial candidate, and the alliance is headed for the polls under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde of the Sena.
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A senior leader from Shiv Sena said welfarism would help the alliance return to power. “The state’s welfare schemes announced recently encompass women, youth, motorists and various communities. It has helped the ruling alliance better its position in the last two weeks,” he added on condition of anonymity. The state government has taken over 275 decisions in the last four weeks and issued hundreds of government resolutions. “All these decisions will have bearing on the polls,” the leader said.
He added that the three alliance partners have learnt their lesson from the Lok Sabha election. “They will not commit the same mistakes again,” he said. The leader was referring to the late announcement of candidates and last-minute jockeying for seats between the partners.
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HT learns that after several meetings with union home minister Amit Shah and other national BJP leaders, Shinde and Pawar have almost finalised the seat sharing formula. The three allies have also decided to exchange some of the seats, and in some cases, even candidates.
The BJP is expected to announce its first list of candidates, most sitting MLAs, in the next couple of days. While the party is expected to drop at least 30% of its sitting MLAs, the other two allies cannot afford to take such a bold step, the people familiar with the matter said.