After weeks of negotiations, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar) alliance in Maharashtra – managed to finalise a seat deal on Tuesday. This is significant for several reasons. One, politics in Maharashtra, which elects 48 Lok Sabha MPs, is a complex affair, determined by sub-regional sentiments, overlapping social constituencies, and ideological contradictions within alliances. Two, the state has been in flux since the 2019 assembly elections, which triggered a series of events unsettling the bipolar character of the polity. Three, the Maratha quota agitation has created divisions within parties and polarised society. Fourth, many leaders have been changing parties, and parties themselves are unclear about how the splits and shifts in stance have impacted their respective cadre bases.
For the same reasons, the Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Sena (Shinde), and NCP (Ajit Pawar) has been unable to reach a seat agreement yet. Maharashtra is very important for both the NDA and the INDIA alliance. It sends a huge number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. Whoever wins Maharashtra gets the edge at the national level. Therefore there is a lot of interest and focus on the state. Finalising the seat agreement, especially for the MVA alliance, looked very difficult. All three parties have their interests and ideologies. The finalisation of the seat-sharing agreement has given it an edge for now in the Maharashtra election.
