Mahayuti: Once bitten, twice shy

In order to avoid the mistake they made ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Mahayuti leaders are holding seat-sharing talks for assembly elections well in advance, without making a public spectacle of it. In the past few weeks, top leaders of the three parties-chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar-travelled separately to Delhi and met union home minister Amit Shah, who is monitoring the seat-sharing exercise himself. Two observers appointed by the party, union ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw, seem to have played a significant role in preparing the ground for the same. The word in the ruling alliance is that they are close to finalising the seat-sharing formula.
According to BJP insiders, the party is looking to contest around 150 seats and distribute the remaining 130-140 between its two allies. Shiv Sena could get a bit more than NCP. Though both Shinde and Ajit Pawar are seeking much more seats than they have, the consensus is likely to be reached soon. In the Lok Sabha elections, differences between the three parties over seat-sharing had become the biggest problem for the Mahayuti. It was not finalised even after the first two phases of elections were over. The public spat between the allies, especially between BJP and Shiv Sena leaders, made it worse. So this time, the three parties are being extra careful.
In contrast, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies had managed to work out their seat-sharing without too many differences although Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) sparred over Sangli and Mumbai south central seats. Closing the seat-sharing deal early helped them. Things, however, are bit slow in the MVA camp this time. The seat-sharing talks are expected to gain momentum after the current session of Parliament is over, say MVA leaders.
Pawar says he made a mistake
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar last week said he had made a mistake while taking a decision on renaming Marathwada University which had become a contentious issue between Maratha and Dalit communities in the early 90s. The dispute also known as ‘Namantar (renaming) Andolan’ was going on for a long time and had seen violent protests and incidents of Ambedkarites being at the receiving end for demanding that the university at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (erstwhile Aurangabad) be named after Dr B R Ambedkar. Those opposing it said the university name was the identity of the region. Ahead of the 1995 assembly elections, Pawar who was then leading the Congress government in the state, chose to resolve the issue permanently and came up with the solution to name the university as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. He tried to build a consensus on the name by adding Ambedkar to the original name. The decision taken in 1994 sparked protests in Marathwada with incidents of riots and arson across the region. It also cost the Congress several seats in the region. The party lost power in the 1995 assembly elections. In a show organised by Marathi channel ABP Majha, Pawar said that he made a mistake by taking the decision while sitting in Mumbai instead of talking to the people in the region. The entire episode came up as he was speaking about the ongoing Maratha agitation. He also said he would soon travel to the region and interact with the people on the quota issue. Interesting developments ahead?
BJP’s vocal brigade against Jarange
As Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil targets deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP legislators such as Pravin Darekar, Nitesh Rane and Prasad Lad have been responding to him, often in similar language. This has led to a debate within the party whether they should attack Jarange which could invoke negative reaction from sections of the Maratha community. In response, close aides of Fadnavis are questioning why several Maratha leaders in the party are keeping quiet when their top leader in Maharashtra is being targeted. Senior Maratha ministers of the party are rarely speaking out against Jarange. Neither are several Maratha legislators and leaders who had benefitted in the Fadnavis regime.
The spoilers
Legislator Bachchu Kadu is the latest to announce a front for contesting the assembly elections. While Mahayuti and MVA are already gearing up for battle, at least three other fronts are in the making. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar is building a coalition, farmers’ leader Ravikant Tupkar has announced a front and now Kadu has announced a farmers’ front. With the assembly election expected to be a close contest between the two coalitions, these smaller fronts could play a spoiler for either side.