Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 4: The “Maha Vikas Aghadi” (MVA), the three-party alliance of the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) is claimed to have completed the seat-sharing process in Maharashtra, the “Mahayuti,” the ruling alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) is learnt to be facing internal dissensions over seat-sharing for the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Amid the reports of internal bickering, the union home minister Amit Shah is due to be heading for a visit to the state in a bid to resolve these issues, especially those related to Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra.
The BJP is also facing problems in finding alliance partner in Tamil Nadu after it broke ties with the AIADMK last year following the party’s state unit chief hurling abuses at the former chief minister CN Annadurai and the party high command giving tacit approval to it.
The party’s Tamil Nadu unit went into a huddle on Monday ahead of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Chennai later in the day. This was the Prime Minister’s fourth visit – in the past three months – to the southern state – one in which the BJP has traditionally struggled for traction. A senior BJP leader said the PM would be briefed on the “alliance status in the state.”
The BJP has a negligible – less than three per cent – vote share in Tamil Nadu.
As of now, only GK Vasan’s Tamil Manila Congress has joined the NDA. The BJP is working on persuading S Ramadoss’ Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founded by the late actor-politician Vijayakanth, as well as Dr K Krishnasamy’s Puthiya Thamizhagam. There may, though, be some bad news on this front. Sources said these parties are “inching to the AIADMK” but nothing has been confirmed so far. The BJP, meanwhile, has not yet given up hope its former ally will make a U-turn.
The AIADMK dumped the BJP after its state boss K Annamalai repeatedly criticised leaders, including the late ex-chief ministers CN Annadurai and MG Ramachandran. Mr Annadurai was the mentor of Mr Ramachandran, who founded the AIADMK based on the former’s ideals.
Mr Shah’s visit comes days after the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in which no candidate from Maharashtra figured. During his day-long visit, Shah will hold strategy and pre-poll meetings in Akola (Vidarbha), will address a youth conclave in Jalgaon (North Maharashtra) and a public rally in Sambhajinagar (Marathwada).
While the BJP has officially stated that Shah’s visit is to launch the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state, insiders say it is aimed at resolving differences of the ruling coalition and “tying loose ends.” A party insider said there were issues in some seats with alliance partners in Maharashtra, which need to be settled before the announcement of the candidates. “Shah’s visit will end the problems,” the leader said.
The state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Shah would be holding a meeting in Akola of Vidarbha region where key constituencies like Akola, Buldhana, Amravati, Chandrapur and Wardha will be reviewed in detail. The BJP is reportedly facing troubles with allies or candidates in most of these constituencies.
The Amravati seat, which is currently held by Independent MP Navneet Rana seems to be a bone of contention between Mahayuti partners – BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar). Though Rana has agreed to contest the polls on a BJP ticket, a case regarding her using “fraudulent means” to obtain a Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate has been pending in the Supreme Court. Moreover, the Shinde Sena is keen on contesting the seat as well as Buldhana.
In Chandrapur, the BJP is facing issues with regard to its candidate selection. The BJP was planning to field state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, who belongs to the Komti (OBC) community, but a section of party leaders believe that a candidate from the dominant Kunbi community will enhance its prospects.
Vidarbha with ten seats – Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Wardha, Ramtek, Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim, Wardha and Akola – is seen as important for the BJP, which has set an ambitious target for the NDA to win 45 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats. It had won five seats from the region in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while its ally – the undivided Shiv Sena – emerged victorious in three.
Shah will address a youth conclave in Jalgaon as the BJP believes the section forms an important voter base for the party. North Maharashtra comprises the Lok Sabha seats of Jalgaon, Raver, Dindori, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Shirdi and Ahmednagar. This region too is turning out to be tricky for the ruling alliance, with its constituent, Republican Party of India (Athawale), throwing its hat in the ring in Shirdi, an SC-reserved constituency. In 2019, the NDA had swept the region with the BJP winning six seats and the Sena winning two.
In Marathwada, where the ongoing Maratha quota issue is likely to be a key factor in the polls, Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) is proving to be a point of friction between the BJP and the Shinde Sena with both parties eyeing the seat. In 2019, the seat was won by AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jaleel, who defeated senior Sena leader Chandrakant Khaire, who has sided with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray following the split in the party. Sources said the Shinde Sena has been insistent on contesting the seat while the BJP feels it has better prospects of winning here. “All these issues will be discussed during Shah’s visit and will definitely be resolved,” they added.
In Konkan region, the BJP and the Shinde Sena are vying for Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri seat. Union minister Narayan Rane has staked claim over it. “Lok Sabha elections will be announced soon. Many leaders from various parties are staking claim to the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat. Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat belongs to BJP, and only we will contest this seat,” he said on X. Sena leader Ramdas Kadam has hit back, accusing Rane of trying to “eliminate all small parties.”
In Western Maharashtra too, the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP seem to be at odds over the Shirur constituency, currently represented by Amol Kolhe, who has sided with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction after Ajit’s rebellion.
As reports of tussles over seat-sharing emerged, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said no injustice will be meted out to any party of the Mahayuti. “Seat-sharing will be done keeping in mind the ground reality and winnability of candidates and will ensure none of three alliance partners are adversely affected,” he said.
However, the NDA allies seem to be in no mood to relent. “Last time, we contested 22 seats. Why should we settle for any less?” questioned senior Shinde Sena leader Gajanan Kirtikar. The Ajit NCP has also demanded an equal number of seats as the Shinde Sena.
Poll managers in the BJP, however, say every party has a right to assert itself. “Workers pitch for more seats but top leaders will take a pragmatic approach when seat-sharing talks happen. Both Shinde and Ajit are well aware of the functioning of the BJP. Every seat will be decided based on ground reality,” a leader said.