While the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has worked out a compromise formula, for now, for 255 of the 288 constituencies for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections, with each of the three allies getting 85 seats, it is the NCP(SP ) led by Sharad Pawar that appears to have stolen a march in the game of one-upmanship between the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
The Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have been sparring with each other in their bids to corner at least 100 seats, hoping to stake claim for the Chief Minister’s post in the event of the MVA’s victory in the polls. While the Sena (UBT) has sought to project Uddhav as its CM face, the Congress also has several CM hopefuls who seem to be buoyed by the party’s success in the recent Lok Sabha polls, when it emerged as the single largest party in the state. .
Till now, the NCP (SP) had not thrown its hat into the chief ministerial ring, with 83-year-old Pawar quietly focusing on the selection of his party’s candidates and building up its campaign. The NCP(SP) was believed to be angling for about 70-75 seats. Now that the NCP (SP) is set to contest 85 seats, the same as the other two MVA partners for now, any of the three with the highest winning tally could lay claim to the CM post.
The extra seats in the NCP (SP) kitty carry the touch of Pawar’s political heft and his negotiation skills.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar during a ‘Sadbhavana Diwas’ event to mark the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in Mumbai. (PTI)
Incidentally, in the Lok Sabha polls, the NCP(SP) had achieved the best strike rate among all the contenders, with Pawar also managing to ensure the win of six new faces.
Sources said that during the talks, Pawar deftly exchanged some constituencies with his allies as well, getting more by giving up on a few seats. For instance, he conceded the Patan seat in western Maharashtra, which his party has not won in the last 10 years, for the Sena (UBT), getting a few other seats in return in the Marathwada region. Also, he is set to induct a sitting Independent MLA from the Chandrapur seat, Kishor Jorgewar, into his party fold, thereby gaining another seat.
“For the last two months, Pawar has been traveling across Maharashtra. Since the Lok Sabha polls, he has been meeting people, leaders and workers. He is speaking only when he wants to and with whom he wants to,” a senior NCP(SP) leader said.
According to an NCP(SP) insider, the party has already received over 1,600 applications from ticket aspirants. “As part of our strategy, our party has decided not to publish the list of candidates for now and instead hand over the A & B forms to them for filing their nominations. Silence is key for Pawar as he continues to plan our strategy without getting influenced by others,” said the insider.
At a recent party rally at Islampur in Sangli district, Pawar heaped praises on state NCP(SP) chief Jayant Patil’s “leadership qualities” while saying that he has full faith in him. “I have confidence that Patil will take the state in the right direction,” he said in remarks which were seen as his projection of Patil as a probable CM candidate from his party.
Pawar was also instrumental in the three parties coming together to announce the 85-85-85 deal after several rounds of hectic parleys and tough bargaining between the Congress and the Uddhav Sena did not result in a breakthrough. Then state Congress president Nana Patole and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat along with Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai held a meeting with the NCP veteran Wednesday evening, who told them that “a wrong message has been sent due to public display of their differences and it was important to immediately announce the seat-sharing formula publicly”.
This was flagged by Raut at the joint press conference of the MVA leaders held in Mumbai on Wednesday night.
Out of the 33 seats for which a deal has not been reached, 18 are meant for smaller allies, and the MVA partners are to take a call on dividing the other 15 seats.
“We (Uddhav Sena) are already near century (100 seats)… If we hit two-four sixes, then we will complete the century. We have reached 85. And the game is still on. There is one more day left of the game, so we will take the remaining runs too,” Raut said Thursday.
Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar was as optimistic about the Congress crossing a “century”, saying the 15 seats would be exchanged between the three allies in such a way that the party’s total seats would be between 100 and 105. “But basically, while allotting seats, we have decided to allot seats on the basis of merit without thinking about how many seats would be allotted to whom,” he said.
In the Lok Sabha polls, the MVA bagged 30 seats out of 48 as against the ruling Mahayuti coalition’s 17. Of the MVA partners, the Congress performed the best, winning 13 of the 17 seats it contested. The Sena (UBT) won nine of the 21 seats it contested while the NCP (SP) won eight of the 10 constituencies where it put up candidates.