Mumbai: The Shiv Sena has sought 90-100 of the 227 seats to contest in the BMC elections, said Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the BJP’s state election incharge. Bawankule stated that the Mahayuti allies, BJP and Shiv Sena, will form a coordination committee to iron out differences for the civic elections.A meeting took place between CM Devendra Fadnavis, Dy CM Eknath Shinde, BJP state president Ravindra Chavan, and Bawankule in Nagpur on Wednesday. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Bawankule said, “While the Sena has demanded 90-100 seats, the seat-sharing decision will be made after examining the technical aspects. A committee comprising four office-bearers each from the BJP and Shiv Sena, along with other Mahayuti representatives, will sit together and discuss the issues. Senior leaders will resolve differences.”In 2017, the BJP contested all 227 seats on its own and won 82, two less than the undivided Sena. This time, it will have to contest fewer seats to accommodate the Sena and the NCP.Confident that the Mahayuti will win a majority of seats in the BMC elections, Bawankule said the decision on who would be Mumbai’s mayor will be taken jointly by Fadnavis, Shinde, and NCP’s Ajit Pawar. In the recent past, Fadnavis has said the BJP will not insist on the mayor’s post even if it wins the highest number of seats.There has been growing tension between the BJP and Sena, particularly over the poaching of each other’s party workers, especially in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Sena has accused BJP state president Chavan of first poaching its party workers. Bawankule said the Mahayuti will remain united in the zilla parishad and municipal corporation elections. “We have set a target of achieving 51% of votes to secure victory. The Mahayuti will contest these elections together,” he said.“Instructions have been given to all district-level leaders to complete the Mahayuti alliance structure at the local level. There may be some difficulties in 5 to 10% of seats, but Fadnavis and Shinde will personally sit together and make the final decision in those places,” said Bawankule.On the NCP, Bawankule said Pawar is an integral part of the Mahayuti and will fight the upcoming battle jointly with the other allies. “In the previous local self-government elections, there were some differences among workers at certain places, but those have now been completely resolved. We didn’t have ‘resentment,’ only election-specific ‘differences of opinion,” said Bawankule.
