Pune :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir concluded, all eyes are now set on the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. As the announcement of election dates for Maharashtra is expected anytime this week, major political parties in the state are scrambling to finalise their seat-sharing arrangements. Both alliances, the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Mahavikas Aghadi, are facing significant challenges in this final phase of negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Mahayuti coalition, a key issue has emerged within Pune district, where alliance partners are showing reluctance in ceding seats to the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction). Despite this resistance, the Shiv Sena has remained adamant about securing at least three seats in Pune city for the upcoming state elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pune city has eight legislative constituencies, and initial estimates suggest that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to contest five of these seats. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena are expected to contest two and one seats, respectively. This has heightened the pressure on the Shiv Sena to negotiate for more seats, as the current allocation does not meet their demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, Mahayuti allies have reportedly agreed to a strategy that allows parties to retain constituencies where they have sitting MLAs. By this logic, the Shiv Sena faces a major setback, as it does not have any sitting MLA in Pune city from the last election. In the previous assembly elections, the Shiv Sena failed to secure a single seat in the city. Currently, as the party has since split into two factions, other Mahayuti allies have argued that the Shiv Sena lacks a strong organisational presence in the city, which weakens their claim to additional seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although some Shiv Sena office bearers from Pune\u2019s suburban and central areas have joined the Shinde faction, Mahayuti partners maintain that the party\u2019s influence is limited to certain constituencies. In light of this, the alliance is considering offering two rural constituencies\u2014Bhor and Purandar\u2014in Pune district to the Shiv Sena rather than any of the urban constituencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Shiv Sena\u2019s Pune city chief, Pramod alias Nana Bhangire, has put forward a strong case to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, demanding three seats in Pune city for the party. Citing Shiv Sena\u2019s impressive strike rate in the Lok Sabha elections, Bhangire is pushing for the Hadapsar, Vadgaon Sheri, and Khadakwasla constituencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This demand has sparked internal friction, as Hadapsar and Vadgaon Sheri are currently held by NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) MLAs, while Khadakwasla has a sitting BJP MLA. As a result, negotiations have become increasingly complex, and discussions are ongoing about which seats the Shiv Sena will ultimately receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commenting on the situation, Pramod alias Nana Bhangire stated, \u201cThe seat allocation within Mahayuti has not been finalised yet, but the Shiv Sena is firm on getting three seats in Pune. We have already submitted a proposal to CM Eknath Shinde, and senior party leaders are supportive of this request. We are confident that Shiv Sena will receive the seats it deserves in this Mahayuti.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pune : With the elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir concluded, all eyes are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":92942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[259,440,973,565,114,1464],"class_list":["post-92941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ajit-pawar-ncp","tag-bjp","tag-devendra-fadnavis","tag-eknath-shinde","tag-maharashtra-assembly-election-2024","tag-shivsena-shinde-group"],"yoast_head":"\n