Maha polls: BJP core committee assesses region-wise strength

Amidst delay over announcing a seat-sharing deal with the Shiv Sena for the October assembly elections, the core committee of the Maharashtra BJP met on Tuesday night to assess the party's region-wise strength and to discuss the possible allocation of seats.

A senior BJP leader said on Wednesday that it was a routine meeting of the committee with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"The assessment is necessary for planning the BJP's campaign because the party has increased its strength in rural as well as urban areas since the 2014 polls. There are certain areas where the BJP needs to take extra efforts. A discussion was also needed on the pitfalls that the party has to avoid in case of rebellion by disgruntled ticket-seekers," he said.

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday clarified that the final seat-sharing deal between his party and the Sena will be announced by Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray who are discussing its contours with BJP chief Amit Shah.

In 2014 assembly elections, the BJP won 122 out of the 260 seats it had contested in the 288-member House.

Subsequently, the party increased its strength by winning elections to local as well as civic bodies across the state.

"Almost all the municipal corporations are now with BJP," the leader said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra while the ally Shiv Sena bagged 18 seats.

"The increased strength of the BJP has put a challenge before the party in the form of more than one aspirants vying for assembly constituencies. The BJP needs to contain the aspirations of party workers so that it would not affect the outcome of the polls," he said.

When asked about the discussions related to pre-poll alliance with Sena, the leader said, "The talks on a seat-sharing formula are on".

However, he pointed out that since the BJP and the Sena both have inducted leaders from the Congress and NCP there is little scope to implement the old seat-sharing formula.

"Both the parties need to exchange some seats," he added.