Maharashtra Elections: Mahayuti To Contest With No CM Face (image-twitter/mieknathshinde)
As the political parties have geared up for the assembly election in Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti coalition- BJP, Shive Sena, and NCP has decided to face the polls without projecting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or anyone as its face.
After the meeting held with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, the deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis, and other senior BJP leaders the decision was taken. As per the sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face will be projected during the assembly elections.
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“The leader to helm the alliance will be decided later. The BJP is learnt to have refused to give any commitment over the CM’s face pre- or post elections,” a source told TNIE.
“The Mahayuti will contest elections under the collective leadership of all three parties and their leaderships. But no prominent leader or any particular face, neither from the BJP nor from Shiv Sena or the NCP, will be projected as the chief ministerial face,” the source further added.
In the meeting held on late night Friday, out of 288 Assembly seats, the BJP has decided to contest in seats between 155-160, while Shinde-led Shiv Sena will contest 80-85 and Ajit Pawar-led NCP 50-55 seats.
Though Eknath Shinde had insisted on projecting him as the face of the election, BJP leaders and Ajit Pawar were reluctant.
The BJP currently has 105 MLAs, Shinde’s Sena has 56, and Pawar has the support of 54 MLAs. “The seat distribution was discussed in the Delhi meeting. There are only a few undecided seats, but the respective party leaders have agreed to make adjustments, including swapping of seats. The criteria for assigning the remaining seats will be winnability, strong candidate presence of the respective party, besides social dynamics,” said a senior Shiv Sena leader.
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This will be the first time the two factions of the largest regional parties in the State, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress party will fight each other. Assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20.
