Congress-NCP seal the deal for 45 Lok Sabha seats; talks on with Prakash Ambedkar

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, NCP leader Praful Patel and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge during a meeting on January 9, 2019. File image: Twitter/Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks)

The Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on January 14 agreed to share 45 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, according to reports.

The alliance is yet to reach an agreement on three seats. Two out of these three seats are Nandurbar and Aurangabad, where the Congress had contested in the 2014 general elections.

The NCP has staked claim to contest from Nandurbar even though it has traditional been a Congress stronghold. This has led to speculation that former minister Vijaykumar Gavit, who had switched from NCP to the BJP in the run-up to the 2014 elections, may be heading back to the party, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The opposition alliance is also in talks with Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM). Sources in the BBM had earlier confirmed to Moneycontrol that the party was negotiating a seat-sharing formula with the Congress.

BBM has put forward a demand of contesting 12 parliamentary seats, sources said, adding that all of these seats were those lost by the Congress in the last three general elections.

It is unclear as to how the Congress has reacted to the proposal. Some reports suggest that BBM may be offered Akola constituency.

Although BBM is in talks with the Congress, it has already announced an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). AIMIM is, however, not expected to contest any seat in Maharashtra, a person aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

Former National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner Raju Shetti’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) are also reportedly a constituent of the alliance.

Shetti would be given one seat to contest and would be accommodated within NCP’s quota, party chief Sharad Pawar told News18.

The CPM would be accommodated within Congress’ quota, on the other hand. The Left party could be given the Dindori seat.

The Congress-NCP alliance is also likely to include Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), which has a strong presence in Palghar district.

By taking the smaller parties along, Congress and NCP are hoping to consolidate the anti-BJP votes in the state.

The alliance’s seat-sharing arrangement in the Lok Sabha polls could also form the basis of the formula for the assembly elections expected to happen in September-October.

BJP's bickering ally Shiv Sena had announced in early 2018 that it would contest the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections separately. However, the Sena has shown signs of rapprochement with BJP in recent months. Both BJP and the Sena have internally agreed that fighting the polls is inevitable.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier expressed that both parties (BJP and Shiv Sena) would suffer if the alliance ends. Ramdas Athawale’s Republican Party of India - Athawale (RPI-A) is also their ally.

Maharashtra has the second largest pool of Lok Sabha seats at 48. Winning a significant chunk of seats in the state would improve chances of either the BJP-led NDA or the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of forming the government at the Centre.

Maharashtra: Seats won by major parties in Lok Sabha polls (1999-2014)

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 42 out of the 48 seats in the state. BJP and Shiv Sena won 23 and 18 seats respectively. Their then ally Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Paksha won one.

In terms of vote share, BJP and Shiv Sena bagged 27.56 and 20.82 percent of the votes, respectively. Congress and NCP polled 18.29 and 16.12 percent of the votes, respectively.