Shinde Rules Out Rift in Mahayuti Ahead of Maharashtra MLC Elections
Responding to media speculation over the delay in announcing candidates, Mr. Shinde noted that the deadline for filing nominations is June 1.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday announced that the ruling Mahayuti alliance will jointly contest the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections for 17 seats, expressing confidence that the coalition would win all of them.
Dismissing reports of internal differences within the alliance, Mr. Shinde said seat-sharing negotiations would be finalised amicably. He added that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had already outlined the alliance formula.
“The Mahayuti alliance is strong. We are working together to accelerate Maharashtra’s development,” Mr. Shinde said.
Responding to media speculation over the delay in announcing candidates, Mr. Shinde noted that the deadline for filing nominations is June 1.
Mr. Fadnavis said all pending issues would be resolved in Mumbai before June 1. “We have almost reached an agreement. Differences remain only over two seats. We have told Shiv Sena that either Nashik or Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should come to us. The NCP has sought the Pune seat. We will resolve all these issues in Mumbai,” he said.
Ms. Pawar said her party had sought three seats where it enjoys a majority. “The ongoing talks are positive,” she said.
The nomination process for the 17 MLC seats is already underway. Members of municipal corporations and councils, zilla parishads, nagar panchayats and panchayat samitis elect representatives to these constituencies.
The constituencies are Pune, Ahilyanagar, Thane, Jalgaon, Sangli-Satara, Nanded, Yavatmal, Solapur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Amravati, Dharashiv-Latur-Beed, Parbhani-Hingoli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna and Nagpur.
