After the Maharashtra Assembly election dates were announced, brainstorming began for the list of candidates. The Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting of the BJP was held in Delhi on Wednesday. It is reported that candidate lists for more than 100 seats were discussed at this meeting. The remaining seats will be discussed after seat sharing with alliance partners.
Sources said the Central Election Commission is likely to hold another meeting to decide on the list of candidates for the Maharashtra elections. Home Minister Amit Shah can convene the NDA meeting after the swearing-in ceremony in Haryana on Thursday.
The CEC meeting was held at the Delhi headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National President JP Nadda. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Deputy Minister Devendra Fadnavis and many other important leaders attended the meeting.
Sources said that at the Central Election Committee meeting, the BJP discussed the list of candidates for more than 100 Mahayuthy seats. The remaining seats will be discussed after the seat allocation formula is finalized.
How many seats will the BJP contest?
Apart from the BJP, the Shiv Sena (Shindhi) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) have also been included in the grand alliance. The seat-sharing formula has not yet been finalized.
It is understood that on Wednesday, senior leaders of Mahayuthi’s three parties – Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena and the National Congress Party Ajit Pawar held a meeting with Amit Shah. The issue of seat allocation was discussed at this meeting. Another meeting on the issue is likely to be held on Thursday, where the seat allocation could be finalized.
CM’s face is still undecided
The face of the chief minister is yet to be decided by Mahayuthy. A senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the party will contest the elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party is no longer concerned about the chief minister’s face, but is emphasizing the formation of a grand coalition government.
BJP leaders present at the meeting said the party would contest as many seats as possible. He said our situation has improved compared to the Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that a grand alliance government would be formed in Maharashtra.
The BJP believes that toll tax exemption, addressing farmers’ issues, women-related policies and OBC vote bank can help the alliance.
Maharashtra to hold elections on November 20
Maharashtra’s 288 assembly seats will go to polls on November 20. Results will be announced on November 23.
In the last election, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56 seats, the NCP 54 seats and the Congress 44 seats. However, after the elections, the Shiv Sena broke away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and formed the government in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray becomes chief minister.
In June 2022, there was internal discord within the Shiv Sena. Following this, Eknath Shinde sacked 40 MLAs of the party. Eknath Shinde became the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Now the Shiv Sena is divided into two groups. Sharad Pawar’s National Communist Party (NCP) is also divided into two factions – Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar.
