While the INDIA alliance of Opposition parties faces the prospects of allies walking out, the NDA in Maharashtra seems to be facing a problem of plenty as coalition partners Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Republican Party of India (Athawale) have staked claim to the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat. While the CM has categorically said his party will not part with seats it won in 2019, RPI(A) chief Ramdas Athawale who belongs to the Dalit community has thrown his hat in the ring for Shirdi, which is reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC). Shinde fears leaving the seat to allies may lead to massive unrest and defections ahead of the parliamentary polls. “The RPI(A) is the constituent of the NDA. We have our electoral base in Maharashtra and I am keen to contest from the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat,” Athawale said last week. In response, a senior Cabinet minister from the Sena said each party in the coalition was entitled to contest the seats it holds and hence Shirdi was their right. “We have to accommodate our sitting MP who supported Shinde when the party split,” he said. Athawale’s party believes that contesting a couple of seats is necessary to keep its cadre motivated. Athawale was also reportedly eyeing one of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai. However, his hopes were dashed when the BJP said it would contest four and leave the remaining for Shinde. With no chance for his party to contest in Mumbai, the RPI(A) chief is said to have set his eyes on Shirdi in Ahmednagar district. The RPI(A) chief contested from Shirdi in 2009 but lost to the Shiv Sena’s Bhausaheb Wakchaure. After the defeat, he blamed the Congress for his loss, saying it did not support his candidature. He then quit the Congress-NCP alliance and joined the NDA ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and has been with it since. The Sena has held Shirdi since 2009, with the coming elections set to see the Shiv Sena (UBT) also take on Shinde’s party for control of the constituency. Of the six Assembly segments in the constituency, two each are held by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Ajit Pawar, and one each by the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Why Athawale is important RPI(A) insiders said Athawale would sail through as four of the six Assembly segments were held by the ruling alliance’s partners. At a time when the BJP has set an ambitious target of the NDA bagging at least 45 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Athawale’s dedicated vote bank will play a crucial role. Though his party does not have an MLA or a Lok Sabha MP, it has influence in at least 22 Lok Sabha constituencies. With two of its allies at loggerheads, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said it was natural for every party to express its wish. “Ultimately, we have to take into account all aspects while accommodating the concerns of each party. Winnability is a major criterion which will be taken into account while deciding the seat-sharing formula,” he said. Bawankule said the BJP’s role is to provide strength to its allies. “The final decision on who contests which seat will be a collective decision of the state leadership after consultation with the Centre,” he said. Athawale has represented Pandharpur Lok Sabha seat (1999-2009) and Mumbai North Central (1998-1999). From 1990 to 1996, he was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council and a minister in the Congress-led Maharashtra government, holding key portfolios like social justice, transport, employment guarantee, and sports and youth welfare. He was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 2014 by the BJP and was elevated to Union Minister of State for Social Justice in the Narendra Modi Cabinet in 2016. He held the same portfolio in the Modi government’s second term and was renominated to the Rajya Sabha in March 2020.
