'Mahagathbandhan' almost finalised in Maharashtra

After Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra is the second-largest state in terms of Lok Sabha seats with 48 seats. Maharashtra has become one of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strongest states since 2014 as under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis, BJP has won almost all the elections in the state since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. To stop the juggernaut of Narendra Modi at the centre, Congress party and Sharad Pawar's NCP have decided to form a Mahagathbandhan of 8-10 like-minded parties in the state.

Last year, both Congress and NCP had kicked-off talks with like-minded parties like Bahujan Samaj Party, farmer leader Raju Shetty’s Swabhimani Paksh, Samajwadi Party, CPI, Hitendra Thakur and others. After talks of many weeks with all the like-minded parties, Congress & NCP have almost finalized the seat-sharing formula. 

According to Congress sources, both the parties have agreed to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on the old formula of 26-22. Congress will contest on 26 & NCP will contest on 22 seats. Both the parties will give seats to their ally partners from their quota. Sources say NCP will leave 1 seat for farmer leader Raju Shetty’s party Shetkari Swabhimani Paksha and Congress will leave one seat for Hitendra Thakur’s party Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi.  

READ | Crippled With Financial Distress, Cane Growers Committing Suicide: Sharad Pawar Writes To Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Talks are still going on how many seats to give Prakash Ambedkar’s party Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh as Prakash Ambedkar has demanded 12 seats. Both Congress and NCP are not ready to give these many seats to Ambedkar's party. 

Congress sources claim that the party has finalised candidates on almost 26 seats. NCP has also almost prepared their probable candidates list. In the first week of February, leaders of both the parties will again sit together and will complete the formalities. In the meantime, Congress and NCP will also decide how many seats they will offer to Prakash Ambedkar. 

This Mahagathbandhan could be a big worry for the ruling party as Congress and NCP with the help of other like-minded parties can damage BJP’s prospects in the state. Devendra Fadnavis himself had said on many occasions in the past that if Sena and BJP contest alone then both the parties have to bear the losses.    

READ | 'Sharad Pawar Tied Up With Congress As Ideology More Important For Him'