Shinde seeks bigger MLC share in meeting with Amit Shah amid Mahayuti tensions
The Maharashtra unit of the BJP has made it clear that seat distribution should be based on each alliance partner’s numerical strength in the Assembly.
Shinde met Shah in Delhi to raise the issue of seats. (File Photo) Amid a power tussle within the Mahayuti, Shiv Sena head and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde sought a bigger share in the Maharashtra Legislative Council during a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Sunday.
While confirming the meeting, which came ahead of the Council elections, highly-placed sources in the BJP said, “Since it was a one-on-one meeting, the details have not been disclosed. But what has emerged from the meeting is that Shinde wants at least seven out of 17 seats in the state legislative council.”
The Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has made it clear that seat distribution should be based on each alliance partner’s numerical strength in the Assembly. The BJP has 12 seats, the Shiv Sena has 3, and the NCP has 2 in the Assembly.
The elections are being held for 16 seats from MLC constituencies, along with a bypoll for one seat from Nagpur. Voting is scheduled for June 18, with voting counting on June 22.
Of the 17 seats going to the polls, party-wise representation was 7 for the BJP, 3 for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and 5 for the Shiv Sena.
The BJP wants a seat allocation based on each party’s strength. A BJP office bearer indicated that at the most, the party may let go of one more seat, taking the Shinde Sena’s tally from 3 to 4.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that discussions with alliance partners are underway. “We will resolve the seat sharing for council polls amicably. We don’t see any problem. We are in talks with the Shiv Sena for Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seats. We are in discussion with the NCP for the Pune seat,” he added.
However, a Shiv Sena minister requesting anonymity said the BJP is “increasingly squeezing the alliance partners’ political space”. “This cannot be acceptable to us. In the name of political growth and expansion drive, the BJP has justified its right to a higher share in every election,” said the Sena minister.
“Shinde is right when he says we should get seven seats, of which we represented five earlier. The Congress had two seats. Why should these seats go to the BJP?” he asked.
Another issue on which Eknath Shinde is awaiting the central leadership’s nod is the possible induction of MPs from Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) into his party. The Shiv Sena (UBT) currently has nine Lok Sabha MPs, and leaders in Shinde’s camp claim that at least six of them are willing to switch sides if assured tickets for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the BJP state unit is not very keen on engineering another defection within the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) immediately, especially amid the fuel crisis, which has led to inflation and hardships.
Sources said the BJP’s state unit has also conveyed to the central leadership that there is little political advantage in further weakening the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which is already struggling for survival. On the contrary, any attempt to poach its MPs at this stage could give the party a fresh political lifeline and revive sympathy for it.
The third issue pertains to pending appointments to state-run corporations and boards. Although the Mahayuti Government, led by Fadnavis, assumed office in December 2024, political appointments to more than three dozen corporations are yet to be finalised.
Constituencies and outgoing MLCs
1. Solapur: Prashant Paricharak (BJP)
2. Jalgaon: Chandubhai Patel (BJP)
3. Bhandara-Gondia: Parinay Phuke (BJP)
4. Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli: Ramdas Ambatkar (BJP)
5. Amravati: Pravin Pote (BJP)
6. Dharashiv-Latur-Beed: Suresh Dhas (BJP)
7. Nagpur (By-election): Chandrashekhar Bawankule (BJP)
8. Ahilyanagar: Arunkaka Jagtap (NCP)
9. Pune: Anil Bhosale (NCP)
10. Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg: Aniket Tatkare (NCP)
11. Thane: Ravindra Phatak (Shiv Sena)
12. Nashik: Narendra Darade (Shiv Sena)
13. Yavatmal: Dushyant Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena)
14. Parbhani-Hingoli: Viplav Bajoria (Shiv Sena)
15. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna: Ambadas Danve (Shiv Sena)
16. Sangli-Satara: Mohanrao Kadam (Congress)
17. Nanded: Amar Rajurkar (Congress)
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