Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis travelled to New Delhi separately and held meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the NDA’s strategy for the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections.
A BJP leader from Mumbai told the FPJ that as many as 16 party leaders were eager to contest the polls. The crucial decision for the party was whether to contest only seven seats that they have in their quota or go for more, he said.
Sources said Shinde and Fadnavis also discussed with Shah how to deal with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. There has been some discussion inside the BJP about whether to take Pawar fully along during the upcoming elections or whether to offer him very few seats and make him take a call about staying in the NDA.
Senior BJP Leaders Express Displeasure About Ajit Pawar Being Given A Cabinet Position
Senior BJP leaders have repeatedly expressed displeasure about Pawar being given a cabinet position in the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra. The NCP’s strike rate in the recent Lok Sabha poll was very poor. They fought for four seats and could win only one. Pawar’s wife Sunetra lost the election and there is now some talk of a few MLAs wanting to return to Sharad Pawar’s camp. The BJP has to take a call on whether they want to give a one-third share to Pawar in the seat-sharing for assembly polls.
The sources said relations between Shinde and Pawar are strained and the BJP works as a mediator between the two.
About MLC Polls
The MLC polls, which will take place in the second week of July, are seen as the last big contest before the assembly elections in October. The BJP has 103 seats in the assembly, Shiv Sena (Shinde) has 38, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) has 39. If the NDA fields only seven candidates in the MLC polls, there will be an unopposed election for both sides, but if the Mahayuti alliance is confident that it can get some cross-voting done from the opposite side and field nine or 10 candidates for 11 seats, then there will be a contest.
Sharad Pawar’s NCP has 14 seats, the Congress has 36 seats and Shiv Sena (UBT) has 15 members in the house, so they have enough quota to win three seats in the upcoming election.
