Lok Sabha seat-sharing talks a cliffhanger after splits and realignments in Maharashtra
BJP-led ruling alliance and the opposition bloc are united in their belief that winnability is the only formula for seat-sharing in Maharashtra, which sends the second highest number of 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha after 80 from Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra, the country's most industrialised state and its premier FDI magnet, however, has seen a political churn since 2019, with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena breaking its long-time alliance with the BJP, and then suffering a split, just like the Sharad Pawar-founded Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
A major chunk of the Shiv Sena is now with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and it is allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The NCP also met a similar fate as Ajit Pawar walked away with a legislative majority last year and is also part of the ruling alliance.
The splits and realignments have made seat-sharing a herculean task with claims and counter-claims, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties said.
The BJP, which along with the then undivided Shiv Sena won a cumulative 41 out of the 48 seats in 2019, is looking to better the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) tally to 45, whereas the opposition Congress will seek to put behind its disastrous 2019 outing when it won just one seat.
The seat-sharing issue is being discussed with the central leadership, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule told PTI.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP and the Congress, is wooing the
