Maharashtra Assembly election 2019: BJP-Sena likely to seal seat-sharing pact today

Mumbai, Sep 29: With the Assembly elections just days away, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to finalise its seat-sharing pact with Shiv Sena for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The announcement on the seat-sharing pact is likely to be made at a joint presser of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbaiin the presence of Amit Shah.

The announcement came amidst reports of unease in the saffron alliance in Maharashtra in view of the BJP offering fewer seats to the Sena instead of an equal division of seats.

The seat sharing pact was reportedly getting delayed due to 'shraddha paksha', period which is considered 'inauspicious' to start new things.

Earlier, Fadnavis along with state party chief, Chandrakant Patil held a series of meetings in Delhi with Amit Shah to finalise on the pact.

As part of the final arrangement, the BJP would contest on 144 seats, the smaller allies on 18 while the Shiv Sena would get 126 as demanded. The BJP is, however, insisting that the candidates from the smaller parties contest on the Lotus symbol.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested independently. It was only after the election resulted in a split verdict that the two parties came together and formed the alliance.

Maharashtra will go for a single-phase election on October 21. Counting of votes will take place on October 24.