Mahayuti-MVA still unsure on candidates for 13 Lok Sabha seats of 48

13 Lok Sabha constituencies, which amounts to around a quarter in the state, are still awaiting candidates from both the Mahayuti and the MVA

MUMBAI: The campaign for the Lok Sabha elections has already begun in Maharashtra, as nominations have been filed for the first two phases and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the first rally in Chandrapur on Monday. However, the BJP-led ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are still struggling to finalise their seat-sharing pacts and select candidates in around 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, including Satara, Nashik, Aurangabad, Palghar, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg , Mumbai South, Mumbai North West and Mumbai North Central. Disputes between the Shiv Sena and the BJP over seat-sharing have created rifts between their local leaders and grass-roots party workers.

Thane, India - April ,06, 2024: Loksabha Election 2024 has been announced on Saturday (Today) the Thane Collector office has organized EVM voting Machine training for election staff in st. jhon school, So that the election should be conducted smoothly,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on, Saturday, April,06, 2024. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha constituencies and will go to the polls in five phases between April 19 and May 20. While the first two phases have been taken care of, 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, which amounts to around a quarter of the constituencies in the state, are still awaiting candidates from both the Mahayuti and the MVA.

In the Mahayuti, the BJP and Shiv Sena have been regularly locking horns over seat-sharing. Even though CM Eknath Shinde dropped three of his sitting MPs under pressure from the BJP, the latter now wants him to compromise on more seats. This has resulted in a deadlock over seats like Nashik, Aurangabad, Palghar, Thane, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Mumbai South, Mumbai North West and Mumbai North Central. The decision on Satara is pending between the BJP and the NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction. The MVA too has not finalised candidates for Mumbai North, Satara, Madha, Raver and Jalna.

After the opposition began targeting CM Shinde for being powerless to announce his MP son Shrikant’s candidature, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis declared Shrikant’s name on Saturday for the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat. But even then, Shinde’s MLAs and ministers took an aggressive stand and told him not to compromise on Nashik, Aurangabad, Thane, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Palghar and Mumbai North West.

Sitting Sena MPs Hemant Godse of Nashik and Rajendra Gavit of Palghar are another point of contention. The BJP has mounted pressure on the CM to give up the Nashik seat to NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal. It also wants the Thane seat, which is the home turf of CM Shinde. The decision on Palghar, another seat in the tug-of-war, is also pending in the negotiations. The Mumbai North West seat is still waiting for a candidate, as the Sena’s sitting MP Gajanan Kirtikar does not want to contest against his son Amol who is the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate.

Even though the sitting MPs of Aurangabad, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Mumbai South are not with CM Shinde, these were traditional undivided Shiv Sena seats. However, the BJP has claimed Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg for union minister Naryan Rane. Aurangabad and Mumbai South are also under negotiation, as BJP local leaders like union minister Bhagwat Karad want to contest from Aurangabad.

In Mumbai North Central, the BJP has a sitting MP, Poonam Mahajan, but does not want to re-nominate her. However, it still has to decide on a candidate. In Satara too, it has not made up its mind on the candidate, as former MP Udyan Raje, who lost the byelections while contesting on a BJP ticket, wants to contest again.

In the MVA, the NCP (Sharad Pawar) has kept the suspense going on who the candidates from Madha, Satara and Raver constituency will be. If the Congress does not declare a candidate for Mumbai North, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will declare one from his party. The names of Vinod Ghosalkar and his daughter-in-law are under consideration.

Sena opposes Ajit NCP in Osmanabad too

After Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare’s protests with regard to the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, the Ajit NCP is seeing more opposition from the Sena in Osmanabad constituency. As the party has no candidate here, it imported Archana Patil, wife of BJP MLA Rana Jagjitsingh Patil, and declared her candidature. After this, supporters of Sena leader Dhananjay Sawant staged agitations and tendered their resignations to oppose Patil’s candidature, as they have been opposing the family and party in district politics for years.

When contacted, Sawant said he had sought an appointment with CM Shinde to brief him about the situation in the district. “Osmanabad is traditionally a Shiv Sena constituency,” he said. “In the last seven elections, the Shiv Sena won five times, and other parties won only twice. The Sena won the seat in the last two elections. So party workers have demanded that the seat should not be given to another party.” Sawant is a former deputy president of the zilla parishad and is one of those aspiring to contest from Osmanabad.