Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024: MVA And Mahayuti Lock 260 Seats, Vidarbha And Mumbai Still In Dispute

Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are nearing the finalisation of their candidate lists for the upcoming assembly elections, as reported by Hindustan Times. Both alliances have reached a consensus on approximately 260 out of the total 288 seats in Maharashtra.

The Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde), and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), concluded discussions on seat-sharing at a marathon meeting at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence in Delhi. The meeting, which ended early on Saturday morning, addressed most of the seat allocations, but around 25-30 seats are still under negotiation. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated that these remaining issues would be resolved within a couple of days.

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The seat-sharing arrangement in the Mahayuti alliance gives the BJP around 155 seats, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena about 85 seats, and the NCP approximately 45-50 seats. Amit Shah reportedly emphasised that disputes over the remaining seats should be resolved amicably, warning that failure to do so could hurt the alliance, as seen during the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. He urged that candidates be selected based on their electability.

CM Shinde confirmed that the finalised seat-sharing formula would be announced soon. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis added that the three parties would begin releasing their candidate lists separately, starting with the BJP's list.

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On the opposition side, the MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar's faction of the NCP, has also reached an agreement on about 260 seats. However, 15-20 seats, particularly in Vidarbha and Mumbai, are yet to be finalised. According to the MVA's arrangement, Congress is expected to contest around 110 seats, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP may get 80-85 seats each. Smaller allies, including the Samajwadi Party and the Communist Party of India, are expected to receive 15-20 seats collectively.

In the midst of these negotiations, tensions flared between state Congress chief Nana Patole and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, with both sides exchanging sharp words. Senior leaders quickly intervened to prevent the dispute from escalating. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala met with Uddhav Thackeray at his residence, signalling that consensus should remain the priority.

Several contentious seats remain unresolved in Vidarbha and Mumbai. In Vidarbha, the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) are vying for key seats such as South and North Nagpur, and Ramtek. In Mumbai, both parties are interested in constituencies like Versova, Bandra East, and Byculla. The Congress has offered the Shiv Sena (UBT) seats in the Konkan region, where neither the Congress nor the NCP has a strong voter base.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, held meetings in Mumbai to discuss region-wise seat distribution and caste or quota considerations for the elections. The party's central leadership dispatched these leaders to ensure that lessons from the Haryana elections are applied in Maharashtra.