Tension has been witnessed within the Mahayuti alliance over the distribution of 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, for which polling is scheduled on June 18. The disagreement has mainly been seen between the BJP and Shiv Sena, with both parties staking claims over constituencies where their political influence is considered strong.
The BJP’s position has been strengthened by the recent local body election results, in which the Mahayuti alliance secured a major lead. Together, the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP won 8,239 out of 12,201 seats, while the opposition parties secured a much smaller share. This strong performance has made the Legislative Council contest more significant within the ruling alliance itself. It has been said that the BJP offered three seats to the Shiv Sena and two to the NCP. However, seven seats were reportedly demanded by the Shiv Sena. Constituencies such as Thane, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar-Jalna, Parbhani-Hingoli and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg-Raigad were said to be among those sought by the Sena.
The BJP has reportedly agreed to offer Thane and Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg to the Shiv Sena, while discussions with the NCP are being held over Pune and Sangli-Satara. It has also been indicated that conceding more seats to the Shiv Sena may encourage similar demands from the NCP. A separate disagreement has been seen in Nanded, where the NCP has claimed the seat despite having fewer members than the BJP. NCP MLA Pratap Chikhalikar said the party had been supporting the BJP in other constituencies and was therefore insisting on Nanded. The seat is also being watched by Ashok Chavan, who is said to be backing Amar Rajurkar.
BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that most issues had been resolved and that the final decision would be taken after talks among Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar. The seat-sharing formula is expected to be based on sitting seats and numerical strength. The Mahayuti has expressed confidence that all 17 seats will be won by the alliance.