Maharashtra Polls: All Is Well Within BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Over Seat Sharing? Bawankule's BIG Statement

Maharashtra has 288 legislative assembly seats and the state will go to the polls in October-November this year.

NAGPUR: Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday said the constituents of the Mahayuti alliance- Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP- have arrived at a consensus on contesting 70 to 80 per cent of 288 seats for the assembly elections. He hinted winnability will be the criterion for distributing poll tickets.

"The three leaders of Mahayuti (Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pwar) should be congratulated for vowing to win elections unitedly instead of quoting numbers. We will agree upon fielding winnable candidates," the BJP leader told reporters in Nagpur. He was replying to a query on NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, purportedly staking claim to 70 to 80 seats.

A consensus has been reached on 70 to 80 per cent of seats and Mahayuti leaders will soon address a joint press conference, he said. Bawankule asked Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange to respond to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on "removing" reservation.

"Rahul Gandhi is trying to remove the present reservations; what will happen to the Maratha quota? Jarange should respond to Rahul Gandhi's remarks," Bawankule told reporters.

The BJP has accused the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha of making "anti-reservation" remarks during his visit to the US.