The Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday night convened a lengthy meeting to devise strategies for the upcoming State Assembly election. The meeting, which reportedly lasted for over five hours, focused on election campaign planning and strategy finalisation.
The election for the 288-member State Assembly is expected to occur in October. In the recent Lok Sabha election, the BJP’s representation in Maharashtra decreased from 23 seats to nine. The ruling coalition, Mahayuti, which includes the BJP, the Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), secured only 17 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, while the Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), consisting of the Congress, the NCP (SP), and the Shiv Sena (UBT), won 30 seats. Congress rebel Vishal Patil won as an Independent from Sangli.
More meetings would be held in the future and discussions about seat-sharing with allies would be addressed then, a leader said.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, State president Chandrashekar Bawankule, Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar, senior leaders Raosaheb Danve and Pankaja Munde.
“No seat-sharing talks yet”
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that seat-sharing discussions have not yet begun among the MVA partners for the Assembly election, claiming that all parties within the Opposition alliance are equal stakeholders.
He said that the MVA had contested the Lok Sabha election together, demonstrating how Maharashtra prevented the BJP from securing a full majority.
“Seat-sharing talks have not yet started - neither with the NCP (SP) nor the Congress. Therefore, the question of how many seats each party will contest does not arise. All are equal stakeholders,” the Thackeray loyalist said.
Published - June 22, 2024 10:44 pm IST
