Maharashtra opposition seat deal finalized, Uddhav Sena to contest 21 seats

In a significant development ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Opposition alliance in Maharashtra, has reportedly clinched a seat-sharing agreement. Sources close to the negotiations revealed to India Today TV that the arrangement has been settled, with the Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray faction poised to contest 21 seats.

According to insider information, the seat allocation within the alliance stands as follows: the Congress party is slated to contest in 15 seats, while the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is expected to field candidates for nine seats. Additionally, the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA), helmed by Prakash Ambedkar, is anticipated to vie for two seats, with Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Paksha securing one seat, as per sources familiar with the discussions.

In specific delineations, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is set to claim four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, with the possibility of one seat, likely Mumbai North East, being allocated to the VBA. Notably, discussions over certain seats, particularly Mumbai's South Central and North West constituencies, had previously encountered significant hurdles, but the current status of these disputes remains undisclosed.

Reflecting on the previous election landscape, the 2019 polls saw the Sena, then in alliance with the BJP, contesting 23 seats and emerging victorious in 18, including key constituencies in Mumbai. Conversely, the Congress and the NCP faced challenges, with the former managing to secure only one seat out of the 25 contested, while the latter won four seats out of 19.

The dynamics of the upcoming polls are further compounded by the BJP's bolstering with rebel factions from the Shiv Sena and NCP. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, leading these dissident groups, have aligned with the BJP, potentially reshaping the electoral calculus in the state.