Amit Shah meets Eknath Shinde; Ajit Pawar to finalise seat-sharing formula

Amit Shah offers fewer Lok Sabha seats to allies but promises compensation in assembly polls. Seat-sharing disagreements discussed ahead of elections.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a meeting with chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and key leaders from the three ruling parties to iron out the differences over a seat-sharing arrangement ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

Shah meets Shinde, Ajit Pawar to finalise seat-sharing formula

HT has learnt that Shinde’s Shiv Sena has expressed its desire to retain at least the 13 constituencies currently held by its MPs. However, the BJP is ready to offer only 10 seats. Similarly, the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is confident of winning eight seats, including Gadchiroli where it is planning to field state minister Dharmarao Baba Atram. Shah said he could allot only four seats, including Baramati where it is likely to be a clash between Pawar’s wife Sunetra and his cousin Supriya Sule.

The BJP wants to contest the remaining 32 seats as it believes it would improve the strength of the ruling alliance in parliament. The BJP is also insistent on swapping some of the constituencies, including Parbhani, Nashik, Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.

In Mumbai, the Shinde faction has been demanding two seats, while the BJP is hellbent on Thane which has traditionally been a Shiv Sena stronghold.

In the meeting that went on till late night, Shah reportedly told the other two allies to compromise on fewer seats in the Lok Sabha elections and assured them to compensate in the assembly elections later this year.

“Barring the seats that have conflicts of opinion, candidates for the other seats, including the ones currently held by the BJP, are expected to be announced by the weekend. The leaders also discussed the number of seats to be allotted to three ruling parties and the consensus is expected to be arrived at in the next few days,” a BJP leader, who refused to be named, said.

Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a public rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar where he claimed that the Narendra Modi government in its decade-long reign had released funds worth nearly ₹16 lakh crore to Maharashtra.

“The UPA rule under the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had given just ₹1.91 lakh crore between 2004 and 2014 while the Modi government gave ₹7.15 lakh crore, in addition to the projects worth ₹8 lakh crore. I dare Sharad Pawar to dispute my claim. Our government provided drinking water to 1.20 lakh households, toilets to 76 lakh households, and foodgrains to 7 crore people in Maharashtra,” he said.

Shah appealed to the voters to defeat the incumbent MP (Imtiyaz Jalil) who, he said, represents ‘Nizam rule’. He also lambasted opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray and MK Stalin, saying they are promoting dynasty politics. “They (the opposition) are in the denial mode and have been opposing everything which has been in the interest of the country,” he said.

Shah also addressed a public rally in Jalgaon and chaired a meeting in Akola to review the preparedness for six Lok Sabha constituencies.

Shah will wind up his Maharashtra tour on Wednesday.