For the first time in the history of assembly election, both the Congress-NCP combine and the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance are exerting maximum pressure to get more seats to contest. Even though both the combines know that the alliance has to continue, still the parties are engaging in unnecessary public fight over seat sharing. Both the NCP and the BJP are demanding more seats from their allies.
The Congress screening committee on Tuesday submitted the list of 288 seats for Maharashtra state assembly to the Party President Sonia Gandhi giving hints that it is ready to contest on its own. But it is being dubbed as a gimmick. The screening committee was expected to limit the number to only 174 candidates, as the remaining seats would go to the NCP. In an audacious political move, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is trying to confuse NCP chief Sharad Pawar as his party has been demanding 144 seats.
The NCP inducted some independent MLAs into the NCP after the Congress made a big show of inducting four independent MLAs into the party. In response to the Congress submitting a list of candidates for all 288 seats, Sharad Pawar reacted sharply saying that the NCP is still keeping all the options open. He has asked the Congress to come up with the final decision within a couple of days.
Speaking to IBNLive, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the attitude of the BJP leaders has changed after the big victory in the recent Lok Sabha elections. He said, "They are sidelining us. We have 25 years of partnership. After all Shiv Sena is responsible for the growth of the BJP in Maharashtra. They have forgotten the days when the BJP's position was very bad. The late Balasaheb Thackeray generously supported the BJP on the lines of Hindutva. At this juncture, I feel strongly that my father made a mistake. I have already conveyed my hurt feelings to the top BJP leaders."
As the talks between the BJP-Shiv Sena have been stalled for the past two days following Uddhav Thackeray announcing his desire to be the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena seems to have made all arrangements to contest in all 288 seats. The interviews of aspiring candidates for 46 seats in Marathwada took place on Tuesday in Mumbai. All the aspirants voiced their opinion by saying that if Uddhav Thackrey will be the Chief Ministerial candidate and decides to break the alliance, there will be sufficient support for the Shiv Sena, at least in the Marathwada region. The interviews of aspirants from Konkan region will take place on Wednesday. The Shiv Sena has already decided the candidates for 174 constituencies, which is its share in the alliance.
It has been reported that BJP President Amit Shah will be coming to Mumbai with former national president Nitin Gadkari and Om Mathur, the BJP observer for Maharashtra. Diwakar Raute announced that Mathur will be meeting Uddhav Thackarey and the final decisions is expected after this meeting as very little time is left for electioneering. Meanwhile, Ramdas Athwale, the RPI Leader and one of the members of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance advised both the parties not to stretch the matters further.
MNS chief Raj Thackarey who attended the interviews for the candidates from Marathwada on Tuesday declined to comment on all these political developments. Sources close to the MNS chief disclosed that they were adapting the 'wait and watch' formula and are in constant touch with other political parties. In a close fight and the atmosphere of distrust, the MNS's small share of votes can swing the results one way or the other.
(Sanjeev Unhale is the former executive editor of Marathi newspaper Lokmat, Aurangabad. He will be writing for the IBNLive on Maharashtra Assembly election)
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