Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis
The parties in the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance are once again locked in a tussle over the Maharashtra seat deal in Delhi. The same was true when parties in the Congress-backed Indian Alliance finalized a seat-sharing deal in Mumbai. However, this is not the first time that the BJP alliance parties have come to Delhi to resolve the seat allocation dispute.
In the past 20 days, the three parties have held three meetings on the seat agreement. The question is, why did the NDA parties come to Delhi when India itself solved the seat-sharing issue in Mumbai?
Congress alliance solves Mumbai’s own problems
The Congress alliance has already settled the seat-sharing issue in Mumbai itself. On Wednesday (October 23), the Congress, NCP (Sharad) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav) also held a press conference in this regard. All three parties agreed to contest 85-85-85 seats.
There was a lot of squabbling between the three parties to arrive at the final number for seat sharing, but in Mumbai itself, the three parties settled the dispute.
The responsibility of resolving the seat-sharing dispute on behalf of the Congress was given to Balasaheb Thorat and in-charge Ramesh Chennithala. Sanjay Raut, representing the Shiv Sena (Uddhav), and Jayant Patil, representing the NCP (Sharad), are handling the deal.
Visit Delhi here, 3 meetings in 20 days
In contrast to the Congress alliance, the issue of seat distribution in the BJP alliance cannot be resolved in Mumbai. All three parties in the alliance are continuing their tour of Delhi. Relevant meetings were held three times in Delhi in the past 20 days.
1. On October 3, Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis met Amit Shah. Ajit Pawar did not attend the meeting. At the meeting, the Shiv Sena and the BJP discussed the disputed seats between the two parties.
2. On October 18, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde had a long meeting at Amit Shah’s house in Delhi. Immediately after the meeting, the People’s Party announced a list of 99 candidates. Ajit and Shinde also started giving symbols.
3. The third meeting was held on October 23 at Amit Shah’s residence in Delhi. Sources said Fadnavis, Shinde and Ajit were present at the meeting. At the meeting, those seats that still had issues were discussed.
What is the problem with the BJP alliance?
There are three issues that the BJP alliance still needs to resolve. The first question is about Ajit Pawar. The BJP does not want Ajit Pawar to field candidates who will bring shame to the party. For example, the BJP is against the families of Nawab Malik and Baba Siddiqui.
Similarly, the BJP also rejected some other candidates. The party’s Mumbai president has openly said that people associated with Dawood will not get tickets in the NDA. Pawar, on the other hand, wants his people to use his symbol.
Nawab Malik and Baba Siddiqui are considered important leaders in Mumbai. Ajit Pawar does not want to lose these seats by leaving the Mumbai seat.
The second question is about the seat issue for Eknath Shinde’s party. Shinde’s party is said to be hoping to contest elections from these seats in Mumbai, where the Shiv Sena contested last time. However, the BJP is trying to capture some seats here too. Similarly, in Vidarbha, the Shiv Sena (Shind) has demanded that the BJP be given the seat from which Uddhav candidate is contesting.
The BJP does not want seat-sharing in Vidarbha. Recently, at a conference in Mumbai, Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about renunciation and sacrifice. Amit Shah had said that we gave you the chief minister’s post despite having more MLAs. Our MLAs have made sacrifices. Now it’s time for you to think too.
Likewise, there is a problem with the CM chairman. Maharashtra is yet to decide, if the NDA government is formed, who will be the chief minister next time? The BJP is vying for more seats, but becoming chief minister will not be easy without a complete majority.
