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Devendra Fadnavis on seat-sharing deal for Maharashtra assembly elections: ‘Obviously, BJP will get…’
Devendra Fadnavis's reply followed remarks by NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal suggesting the Ajit Pawar-led faction could contest 80 to 90 seats.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get the maximum number of seats as part of the seat-sharing formula for the assembly elections due later this year.
“Leaders of all the three parties of Mahayuti will sit together to decide a proper seat-sharing formula for assembly polls and seats will be allotted accordingly,” Fadnavis told reporters when asked about remarks, attributed to NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, indicating that the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction might contest at least 80 to 90 seats.
"Obviously, BJP will get the maximum number of seats as it is the biggest party. However, our allies will be given due respect in the seat allotment," Fadnavis added.
Read: Thackeray-Shinde face-off in 6 seats in test of strength for both Senas
Fadnavis dismissed Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's claim that he (Fadnavis), PM Narendra Modi, and Union minister Amit Shah tried to defeat Nitin Gadkari in Lok Sabha elections.
"I don't want to comment on a person who writes a newspaper article after smoking ganja," the BJP leader said.
The political equations in Maharashtra have seen dramatic realignments since the last assembly elections when the BJP and Shiv Sena contested together against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of the Congress party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Read: Slow pace dogs Mumbai polling, Uddhav cries foul, Fadnavis asks EC to intervene
Shiv Sena formed the government under a new formation, called Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress and the NCP after the talks with the BJP for the chief ministerial post hit a deadlock.
However, in 2022, Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray and split the party vertically to form the government with the BJP. The Election Commission later recognised Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena.
Last year, Ajit Pawar also rebelled against the party patriarch and his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena. The poll body again recognised Ajit's faction as the real NCP.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the alliance of BJP- Shiv Sena-NCP is contesting against the MVA comprising the Congress, the NCP(SP) of Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray.
