The Lok Sabha elections are still happening in the country, but the winds of the State assembly elections have started blowing in Maharashtra. On Monday, there was a tug of war between the NCP and BJP over the seat-sharing formula for the state assembly election, which is likely to happen in October 2024.
NCP leader and cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal has said that the NCP led by Ajit Pawar should get 80-90 seats to contest the upcoming assembly election. However, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis made it clear that the BJP is a big party in the alliance and will get more seats than the other two alliance parties. A respectable number of seats will be given to the NCP and Shiv Sena after discussion.
In the Lok Sabha election, there was a lot of disappointment in the Mahayuti alliance. The BJP became the elder brother in the alliance and contested 28 seats, the Shiv Sena contested 15 seats, and the NCP contested only four seats. One of those four seats was given to RSP’s Mahadev Jankar from Parbhani, and the Osmanabad seat was given to Archana Patil, who left the BJP and joined the NCP to contest the election.
The NCP MLAs and leaders were disappointed with the seat-sharing, and opposition parties also made fun of the NCP for getting only four seats.
Speaking at the NCP State convention in Mumbai on Monday, Bhujbal said, “The BJP had promised 80-90 seats in the State assembly election. We should not struggle to get seats like in the Lok Sabha election. We should get our fair share.”
Bhujbal also asked Ajit Pawar to approve all the work of MLAs so they could fight the next elections. During his speech, Bhujbal said, “The BJP had given the slogan of ‘400 plus,’ and there were allegations that the BJP will change the constitution. We faced difficulties in convincing people. Now, the Manusmriti issue has come up. It should be stopped; otherwise, we will have to face big trouble.”