BJP, Shiv Sena seal Maharashtra poll pact, say reports

Ahead of the October 21 Assembly elections in Maharashtra, allies Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena sealed their seat sharing deal on Thursday (September 26), with the former getting the lion’s share of 144 seats of the total 288, media reports said.

While Shiv Sena will contest 126 seats, the remaining 18 seats have been allotted to its smaller allies, reported NDTV quoting sources. Besides, the Shiv Sena also got the deputy chief minister’s post for the state, the report said.

The Assembly elections in the state are scheduled for October 21 and the results are to be declared on October 24.

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The report said that the two parties finally came to an understanding following an internal party meeting of the BJP, which was attended by party chief Amit Shah, its working president JP Nadda, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and its core committee members for the state.

Earlier in February, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the two parties had agreed to a 50:50 seat sharing deal for the Assembly elections. However, following the BJP’s good show in the Lok Sabha elections, a section of its leaders were in favour of going to the polls separately, expecting the party to achieve majority on its own.

However, reports said that neither Fadnavis nor the Shiv Sena were keen on breaking the alliance, but both the parties had started preparing for any eventuality.

It may be recalled that the two saffron parties had fought the 2014 Assembly polls separately. They had opted for a post-poll pact after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state, but fell short of majority.

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