Voting for the Maharashtra Assembly elections is just a month away and intense discussions are taking place between the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi allies over seat-sharing. Mahayuti comprises BJP, Shiv Sena-Shinde and NCP-Ajit Pawar while Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises Congress, NCP-Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena-Uddhav faction. Both the parties have finalized the seat-sharing agreement on most of the seats, but there are at least 20-30 seats on which the matter is stuck and every major party is staking its claim on it.
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seat sharing status of mva
Shiv Sena-UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has said that all three major parties in the MVA – Congress, NCP-Sharad Pawar and Sena-UBT – are likely to get less than 100 seats each out of the total 288 assembly seats. There are some other smaller allies including Samajwadi Party, Left parties and Peasants and Workers Party which are likely to get 2-3 seats. However, according to reports, the Congress is adamant on playing the role of big brother in the alliance citing its better performance in the Lok Sabha elections and is staking claim on 110-115 assembly seats. If this happens, Shiv Sena-UBT will be placed second with around 85-86 seats, while NCP-SP will be placed third with around 75 seats.
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How many seats are stuck?
Congress leader Nana Patole has said that the alliance has finalized the allocation of 260 seats, while the matter of 28 seats has been referred to the party high command as all three major allies have claimed these seats. The Central Election Committee of the Congress party will hold its meeting on October 20 to finalize the names of candidates and the seat-sharing agreement. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) is trying to get more seats in its stronghold Mumbai and Konkan. Meanwhile, the Congress is aiming for larger seat allocation in Vidarbha, a region where it is expected to show a strong performance. The NCP (SP), on the other hand, continues to focus on western Maharashtra, where it wants to maintain its influence in this important agricultural region.