Eyeing Assembly poll, Ajit Pawar discusses seat-sharing with HM Shah

Mumbai: Buoyed by the victory of its two candidates in the biennial election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council held on Friday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed a range of issues including crucial seat-sharing among the MahaYuti partners for the upcoming assembly election, a road map to further strengthen the alliance to take on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the crop loan waiver for farmers.

Confirming Pawar’s meeting with Shah, sources from NCP on Sunday said, “It is very clear that MahaYuti will together contest the ensuing assembly election in Maharashtra with full force and strength with a sole objective of retaining the power. Shah has ruled out the possibility of the BJP going solo or severing links with the NCP or with Shiv Sena. A veteran BJP leader and Union home minister also clarified that the BJP will give due justice to the allies including Shiv Sena and NCP in the seat-sharing with winnability as the leading criteria.”

The sources added that MahaYuti’s victory over nine seats in the state council election has boosted the morale of its party workers, especially after the dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

The timing of Pawar’s meeting is crucial as Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had reportedly held a similar meeting with Shah a fortnight ago. Shinde, who will lead the MahaYuti in the upcoming assembly election, has been calling the shots after he won seven of the 15 seats fought in the Lok Sabha elections.

Shinde is believed to have conveyed to the BJP that Shiv Sena is keen to contest 100 seats in the Assembly election. Shinde’s proposal came after pressures mounted on the BJP from the cadres to not contest less than 150 seats considering its victory on 106 seats in the 2009 assembly elections.

Against this backdrop, Pawar’s meeting was all the more significant as the NCP has been repeatedly reminding the BJP that it was promised 90 Assembly seats when it joined MahaYuti in July 2022. If BJP is staking claim over 150 seats and Shinde on 100 seats then NCP will be left with 38 seats which will be unacceptable for it.

As per the sources, Shah has reiterated that MahaYuti will remain intact.

Pawar, who as the state finance minister has proposed a slew of freebies and sops to farmers, women, youth, industry and varied sections in the budget, has also made a strong case for the waiver in crop loan in a bid to give much-needed relief to farmers who are in distress due to damage to their crops in the wake of natural calamities and market variations in the prices of agricultural produces.

The deputy CM brought to Shah’s notice that the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government had implemented a crop loan waiver scheme but MahaYuti covered and gave benefits to the farmers who were repaying their loans regularly. Pawar’s suggestion is important as during 2023-24, agriculture and allied sectors are expected to grow by a paltry 1.9 per cent against 4.5 per cent in 2022-23.