Ajit Pawar Demands 80-90 Seats for NCP in Maharashtra Assembly Polls

Ajit Pawar’s Seat Demand for Maharashtra Assembly Polls

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has firmly demanded 80-90 seats for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. This demand was made during a crucial meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The seat-sharing discussions among the Mahayuti alliance’s constituents are heating up as the election date approaches.

Ajit Pawar emphasized the need to finalize seat distribution promptly. He aims to avoid the last-minute negotiations witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections. According to sources, Pawar is determined to secure the 54 seats won by the NCP in the 2019 Assembly polls. Additionally, he is targeting 20 seats to challenge the Congress in western Maharashtra, Marathwada, and Northern Maharashtra (Khandesh) regions. Pawar is also keen on contesting 4-5 seats in Mumbai, a region with a significant minority population, against Congress candidates.

Key Points of the Meeting

1. Demand for Seats: Ajit Pawar is pushing for a substantial share of 80-90 seats.
2. Avoiding Last-Minute Negotiations: He insists on avoiding delays similar to the Lok Sabha elections.
3. Seats Distribution: Pawar aims to contest 54 seats won by the NCP in 2019, with additional targets in strategic regions.
4. Mumbai Focus: Pawar is interested in 4-5 Mumbai seats dominated by minorities.
5. Independent and Congress MLAs: He is confident about attracting three independent and three Congress MLAs to his party.

Political Context

Senior BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, arrived early in Delhi for discussions with the party’s central leadership. Ajit Pawar’s meeting with Amit Shah comes after criticism from a weekly linked to the RSS, which blamed the NCP’s alliance with the BJP for its poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

Adding to Pawar’s challenges, 28 NCP leaders from Pune, including the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit’s city president, have left the party to join the NCP (SP). The BJP’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls was disappointing, with only 9 of the 28 contested seats won, a sharp decline from 23 seats in 2019. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP secured just one seat, while the Sharad Pawar faction won eight.

Alliance Dynamics

The Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde aims to contest 100 seats, while the BJP has set an ambitious target of 160 to 170 seats. The major constituents of the Mahayuti alliance face the challenge of accommodating each other’s demands for the 288 Assembly seats.

As the Assembly elections approach, it will be crucial to see how the seat-sharing arrangements unfold among the Mahayuti alliance partners.

Aakhir Tak Editor-in-Chief

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