BJP, Sena to contest 135 seats each in Maharashtra Assembly polls, says Chandrakant Patil

BJP leader and state minister Chandrakant Patil hints 18 seats may be left for allies

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena could contest 135 seats each in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, keeping the remaining 18 seats for allies, senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil indicated on Sunday. The state revenue minister, who is virtually number two in the state government, however, did not specify if the post of chief minister would be split by the two parties after the next Assembly elections.

BJP leader Chandrakant Patil (HT FILE)

The elections for the 288 seats in the state Assembly are likely to be held in October. On February 18, the two parties announced an alliance for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, stating they would contest on equal number of seats, keeping aside some seats for allies. They had agreed upon equal power-sharing between the two parties after the election.

Speaking to reporters, Patil said, “After leaving 18 seats for our allies, we will be left with 270 seats. We will split 135 each. This won’t be an easy decision because BJP has 122 MLAs and has support of eight independents, while Sena has 63 MLAs. We’ll get only five additional seats to contest.”

After the BJP secured a huge mandate on its own, some within the Sena were sceptical about whether the national party would keep its promise. However, Patil said they plan to keep their word. “Both Amit Shah and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised that the BJP and Shiv Sena will fight the Assembly polls together. Our party doesn’t go back on its word,” Patil said.

In 2014, the 25-year-old alliance of Sena and BJP ended after the two parties failed to reach a consensus on seat-sharing. The Sena, which wanted to maintain its ‘big brother’ status in the state, rejected the BJP’s offer to contest 135 seats. In the 2009 Assembly elections, the Sena had fought 169 seats and the BJP 119 seats.

When asked if the BJP and Sena would share power and positions equally if they come to power again, Patil said, “It has been decided that we will share the posts equally. I don’t know if the CM’s post will be split for 2.5 years between the two parties… I think the way Devendraji has led the state in the past five years, he will be the natural choice for people, BJP and Uddhavji.”Patil expressed confidence that the alliance would win 220 seats.

However, Sena functionaries said formal discussions between the two allies on seat-sharing for the Assembly polls are yet to start. “When the CM announced equal sharing of post and power, it included the CM’s post too. There is no need for speculation … So far, no discussion on seat-sharing has happened with Uddhavji,” said a senior Sena functionary.

Pawar: Did BJP lose 3 states to win ls polls?

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has once again raised doubts over electronic voting machines (EVM) malfunctioning.

At a party meeting on Saturday, he said, “In Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan, the BJP lost to Congress (in the Assembly polls) while in power. I also had a doubt — ‘what if this defeat was to win the general elections? (by dispelling doubts over the EVMs)’”.