Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has decided to ask for more than 100 seats at the time of the Maharashtra assembly election.
A meeting of the party leaders including legislators and members of parliament was held at Chief Minister Shinde's bungalow. During the meeting, it was decided to appoint observers in 100 assembly constituencies – a clear indication that Shinde's party will stake claim on a minimum of 100 assembly seats during the seat-sharing talks of the saffron grand alliance.
There are 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly. At present, the Bharatiya Janata Party has a strength of 105, the Shinde Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP have a strength of 40-41 legislators each. In addition,
there are independent legislators who are supporting the saffron alliance government. According to reports, in addition to contesting more than 100 seats across the state, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena will also stake a claim on 17 of the 36 assembly seats in Mumbai.
Leaders of Shinde-led Sena also expressed opinions during the meeting that their party should not rely on so called surveys conducted by the BJP. The leaders felt that it was because of these surveys that the party lost 2-3 seats in the Lok Sabha elections as the BJP forced it to change candidates.
The BJP is unlikely to give 100 seats to the Shinde faction as it has to accommodate AjitPawar-led NCP and independents also. It also wants to keep a minimum of 150 seats for itself. The BJP held its meeting on Thursday to discuss the strategy for the assembly elections. "Unless we get to contest a minimum of 150 seats, we won't be in a strong position in the postelection scenario. There is no way that Shinde-led Sena will get to contest 100 seats. How do we accommodate Ajit Pawar and his NCP then. I feel that our party will ask the Shinde faction to be realistic and settle for 70-80 seats," said a senior BJP legislator.