After Congress was shocked by a loss in the Haryana Assembly Elections and performed miserably in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections where its number of seats fell, it has eyed a lion’s share in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024.

MVA To Strike Deal

If media reports are to be believed, the Congress hopes to get 100 to 115 seats out of 260 seats, for which the opposition coalition of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), is close to striking a seat-sharing deal. The deal came after a series of closed-door parleys was held among the top leaders of the alliance partners. The leaders of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) sat together and reportedly clinched a deal, except for some seats.

Dispute On 28 Seats

If reports are to be believed, alliance partners could not reach to a consensus for 28 seats. These contentious seats are difficult to negotiate because each of the three main parties has staked a claim to them. Reports also suggest that more talks would be held on Friday and Saturday to resolve the issue and reach a final deal.

Congress Hopes To Get 100 To 115 Seats

The political observers believe that considering the strong performance of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the MVA partners have agreed to give the grand old party between 110 and 115 seats.

On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) is likely to contest in 83 to 86 constituencies. It will focus on its strongholds in Mumbai and the Konkan belt.

NCP To Get 75 Seats

Similarly, the NCP (SP) may field its candidates in 72 to 75 seats, concentrating on western Maharashtra. This area remains a crucial battleground for the Sharad Pawar-led party as the rival faction of Ajit Pawar-led NCP will try hard to win maximum seats in this belt and deliver a major blow to the party.

The Impasse

Political analysts believe despite reaching an overall seat-sharing formula and almost being on the verge of a final agreement, the real challenge has been posed by about 28 seats, which have been the most contentious ones because all major parties have put the claim on these seats for their political calculations. One of the reasons is the fact that these seats are located in the regions that are the battlegrounds of these parties and they cannot make any compromise on them. All the major parties believe they have a significant chance of victory. Due to the overlapping interests, these seats have become the major cause of the impasse.