Maharashtra BJP Reminds Eknath Shinde Of "Sacrifices" Ahead Of Seat-Sharing

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde should be willing to make "sacrifices", in terms of seat-sharing for the assembly polls, like the BJP has done to keep the alliance intact.

The comments come a day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for polls to 288 seats in the state assembly.

Voting is scheduled on November 20 and the counting will take place on November 23.

"Chief Minister Eknath Shinde must remain open-minded and be willing to make sacrifices. We, too, have made sacrifices to uphold the alliance. It is evident that the BJP aims to contest the seats we previously held," Mr Bawankule told ABP Majha news channel in Nagpur.

As the dominant party in the alliance, it is only natural for the BJP to seek more seats, he said.

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Asked if Union Home Minister Amit Shah reportedly stated that the BJP "sacrificed" the Chief Minister's post while forging an alliance with Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Mr Bawankule said, "I do not know what Union minister Amit Shah said to Shinde. It is true that the chief minister holds the highest position and represents the government."

He said they have urged Mr Shinde that as the larger party, BJP should have a bigger share for contesting seats. It is impossible to measure who made greater "sacrifices", the BJP leader said.

"As the chief minister, he could have expected more seats to contest in the assembly polls. However, it is not feasible to enter the elections with tension within the alliance. Our stance is that we should be able to contest the seats we have previously won," Bawankule said.

There is no point in demanding more seats to contest for the sake of numbers, he said.

Asked about the agenda of BJP leaders' meeting in New Delhi scheduled on Wednesday, Mr Bawankule said, "We will discuss the candidates and the seats we want to contest. There are some seats that we lost by a thin margin in the 2019 assembly elections."

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There will not be any discussion on the seats won by the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-headed NCP in today's meeting, he said.

The BJP has conducted a detailed survey for Maharashtra and based on it, the discussion will take place in Delhi, he added.

On the possibility of swapping some seats with the alliance partners, Mr Bawankule said, "We may consider swapping a few seats with Shiv Sena. Additionally, there are strong candidates from both BJP and NCP, as the NCP contested against us in the 2019 assembly polls. We need more time to take a final decision in this matter."

Mr Bawankule, who is a member of the state legislative council, also said he would not seek a ticket from the party.

"I won the Kamthi assembly seat in 2014 but the party asked me not to contest the 2019 polls. I have been working as the BJP state president since some time. The party will take a final decision on whether I should contest the election or not. The BJP will win the Kamthi seat irrespective of the candidate," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)