Mumbai: Barely a month to go before the Maharashtra state assembly polls on October 15, the ruling coalition partners, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and their opponents, the Shiv Sena and BJP, are still squabbling over sharing of seats.

The NCPon Monday reiterated that it will stress on an equal share of the state’s 288 legislative assembly seats with the Congress even though the latter has hardened its stand against NCP’s demand. State deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who has been leading the proposal for a share of 144 seats, said on Monday, “As on date the seat sharing talks are taking place between the central leadership of both Congress and NCP. However, NCP is quite keen to get 144 seats (30 more than the 114 seats that it had fought in 2009). The ball is in the Congress’s court.” He, however, added that the party will abide by whatever decision is taken by the NCP central leadership on seat arrangement.

Even though the Congress fared poorly in the Lok Sabha elections by winning only two seats, the party is unwilling to part with its seats, perhaps willing to give away 20 or less seats to a total of 124 seats. Party workers are even prepared to contest all the 288 seats if the talks fail.

The Congress is even more annoyed because the NCP on Monday inducted seven independent legislators who had defeated the Congress in the 2009 polls. These new NCP entrants are expected to be nominated by the NCP from their respective assembly constituencies in the polls. This apart, Rajan Teli, Congress party’s former legislator and a confidant of state industries minister Narayan Rane, also joined the NCP.


Belligerent attitude

Meanwhile, the Sena and BJP are also holding a belligerent attitude towards each other. The long-held bond between the saffron partners has become so fragile that they have resorted to below the belt punches with the Sena, in an editorial in its party newspaper on Saturday, accused the BJP of “excessive lust” for seats that could end in divorce. A BJP leader is reported to have commented that “impotency could also become a cause of divorce.”

The BJP is insisting on the same 50:50 formula though the Sena is willing to part with just 18-19 seats for the smaller parties that are part of the Mahayuti or grand alliance and hold on to 150 seats. The Sena expects the BJP to accept that the chief minister’s post is meant for it and that it is indeed the ‘bigger brother’ in the state alliance.

Despite all the posturing and exerting pressure on each other, it would be suicidal on all these parties to contest alone in the state polls. It is also likely that the parties are putting on the posturing to forestall any revolt among its members.