Lok Sabha elections will be announced in the country in a few days. All parties, including the BJP, have started preparations and seat-sharing talks are underway in Maharashtra, with some seats being claimed by parties in the same alliance. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on a visit to Maharashtra yesterday. A meeting between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with the Home Minister was held late last night.
Also Read | Home Minister Amit Shah Fires Up BJP Campaign, Takes Aim at Dynastic Politics in Maharashtra
Union Minister Amit Shah visited Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Akola, and Jalgaon districts. Amit Shah held a meeting at Sahyadri Guest House late last night on the seat-sharing dispute in Maharashtra. Union Minister Amit Shah is said to be holding a meeting on seat-sharing today, after today's meeting, the second list of BJP candidates is expected to come out.
The BJP's core committee will meet on March 6 to discuss the Lok Sabha candidates. Meanwhile, talks will be held for two days tomorrow and the day after for the remaining seats of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar. BJP president JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah are also expected to attend the meeting. Through the core committee, the names will be discussed before the central election committee meeting.
The BJP has released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Several veterans were left out of the list. Now there is a discussion about the second list as well. In the second list, it is believed that the party may drop older candidates
Both parties claim these seats in the Grand Alliance
The two parties are said to have staked claim to the Lok Sabha seats of South Mumbai, North West Mumbai, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Shirur, Maval, Gadchiroli, Nashik, Palghar, Thane, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dharashiv, Parbhani, Amravati, Madha and Satara.
Seat-sharing on the basis of winning
Shah has also learned to have discussed how to allocate 48 seats to the Grand Alliance. We need to look at who has the candidate who wins the upcoming election, rather than having a formula that gives him a chance. All the 13 MPs the Shiv Sena has are said to be unlikely to get a second chance. There is also a possibility that the BJP will get one or two of these seats and in return one or two new seats may go to Shinde.