Mahayuti allies to finalise seat-sharing formula soon: Fadnavis

With assembly elections in Maharashtra just a couple of months away, deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday asserted seat-sharing between ruling Mahayuti partners will be finalised "soon".

State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule also weighed in with his remarks on the pre-poll arrangement, saying ruling coalition's formula on distribution of seats has been finalised on "nearly 70-80 percent" of the (288) assembly constituencies, and added the pact will be sealed well before their main rival, opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Mahayuti (grand alliance) consists of the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Asked about seat distribution among Mahayuti allies and its formal announcement, Fadnavis told reporters in Pune, "The seat-sharing formula will be finalised soon."

He did not divulge any further information on what is going to be an intricate issue and hard bargaining.

However, speaking separately, Bawankule claimed people will see Mahayuti's seat-sharing formula well before the MVA constituents -- the Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar -- announce their agreement.

"The seat-sharing has been finalised on nearly 70-80 percent of the constituencies. The outcome of a (recent) meeting between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), Fadnavis (BJP) and Praful Patel (NCP) was that winnability of a candidate was the most essential criteria," Bawankule noted.

Meanwhile, Industries Minister Uday Samant, who belongs to Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said, "All the three leaders of the NDA (Mahayuti in state) are well versed with Maharashtra's political situation.

The mistake of announcing some candidates very late (as happened during Lok Sabha polls in the state) will not be repeated this time. We have completed seat-sharing formula for over 75 percent of the constituencies."

However, Chhagan Bhujbal, cabinet minister and senior NCP leader, feigned ignorance about Mahayuti reaching a broad agreement on allocation of seats.

"I am not aware of updates on seat-sharing formula among the three parties, but we (NCP) have demanded nearly 80 seats to contest," Bhujbal insisted.

In the current assembly, the BJP is the single largest party with 103 MLAs, followed by Shiv Sena 40, NCP 41, Congress 40, Shiv Sena (UBT) 15, NCP (SP) 13 and others 29. Some seats are vacant.

The Maharashtra assembly polls are likely to held in November.