The tug-of-war between the Shiv Sena and the BJP over the number of seats each party will contest in the forthcoming state assembly elections is bound to get severe as the other allies in the six-party coalition want up to a hundred seats. That's more than a third of the total 288 seats in the assembly.
In the last election in 2009, the SS contested 169 seats, while the BJP fought from 119 constituencies. Since the Narendra Modi-led sweep in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, the BJP has been talking about contesting from at least half the assembly seats.
Now, leaders of both the major parties admit that seat-sharing talks could get complicated further with the new demands by the other allies.
Mahayuti constituent parties
The other parties in the Mahayuti are Ramdas Athavale's Republican Party of India (Athavale), Swabhimaani Paksha of farmers leader Raju Shetti, who is now a member of the Lok Sabha, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) led by Mahadeo Jankar that has a strong base in the dhangar (shepherd) community, and Shivasangram, the organisation of Marathas headed by MLC Vinayak Mete who was sacked from the Nationalist Congress Party.
RPI looking to win 12
Athavale, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, says his party was seeking about 25 "winnable" seats so they could get at least 12 candidates elected to the assembly to be able to secure the status of a recognised party.
He admitted that Ashok Gaikwad was defeated in Satara, the only Lok Sabha constituency the RPI contested, as he did not get the saffron votes. "In the assembly elections we will put up candidates with elective merit and ensure that 50% of the tickets are given to non-Dalit candidates. We also plan to field some independent MLAs on the RPI ticket," he said.
Swabhimaani wants to contest 35
The Swabhimaani Shetkari Sanghatana, a breakaway group of Sharad Joshi's Shetkari Sanghatana, has set a more ambitious target of 35 seats in western Maharashtra, Vidarbha, north Maharashtra and Marathwada. It has a formidable base among farmers in the sugar bowl of western Maharashtra.
"We must start planning for the assembly polls. We succeeded in the Lok Sabha elections because we forged our alliance and began campaigning a couple of months before polling," says Shetti.
RSP also seeks 35 seats
Jankar, who lost the Lok Sabha election from Baramati by about 70,000 votes to Supriya Sule, daughter of former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, also wants 35 seats for his RSP.
The party has its eyes on Bhandup and Magathane constituencies where the SS has a big presence. Some other seats it is keen to contest are Kalamnuri in Hingoli, Katol and Hingna in Nagpur, and Bhum-Paranda in Osmanabad.
Shivasangram talks unity
Mete says his group has not decided yet on the number of constituencies Shivasangram will contest. "More than seats, it is important to ensure that we defeat the incumbent government," he said.
Another leader in the Mahayuti also emphasized unity among the parties. "After the Lok Sabha elections, the wind is in favour of opposition parties. We must behave responsibly. We must be sensible in making demands for seats as what matters is the ability to win," he said.
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