BJP Secures 11 Seats in Maharashtra Legislative Council Seat-Sharing Deal

There was a huge tug-of-war over the 17 seats of the Legislative Council. After multiple rounds of negotiations in Delhi and claims and counter-claims, the Mahayuti finally reached a consensus on seat-sharing today. Out of the 17, the Bharatiya Janata Party secured the highest number of 11 seats. Pune and Konkan seats went to the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), while after much wrangling, Thane and Nashik seats fell into the lap of the Shinde faction. The Shinde faction was adamant about Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Jalgaon seats, demanding at least 7 seats. Shinde had camped in Delhi for this. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP leaders were also meeting BJP leaders in Delhi. The BJP had sent a list of 48 aspiring candidates for 12 seats to Delhi. After many developments, the Mahayuti formula was finalised. June 1 is the last date for filing nominations. BJP – Solapur, Jalgaon, Bhandara-Gondia, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Amravati, Dharashiv-Latur-Beed, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna, Ahmednagar, Sangli-Satara, Nanded. Shinde faction – Thane, Nashik, Parbhani, Yavatmal. Ajit Pawar faction – Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg (Konkan), Pune. According to the final formula, BJP will contest on 11 seats, Shiv Sena on 4, and NCP on 2. Although the NCP managed to get an extra seat, the Shinde faction had to settle for 4 seats. By taking the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seat, the BJP has dealt a blow to the Shinde faction.