09 March,2024 09:23 AM IST | Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Dy CM Ajit Pawar (right) and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde File pic/Ashish Raje
Union Home Minister Amit Sha, late on Friday night, met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar to discuss seat-sharing in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
According to a report in ANI, the meeting was conducted at Shah's residence in Delhi and the meeting began around 7 pm. Reportedly, CM Shinde and Deputy CM Pawar were seen leaving Shah's residence at 12.45 am after the discussions.
The discussion, per the agency report, was mostly about the seat distribution within the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. Mahayuti alliance includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar.
According to the report, BJP national president JP Nadda and NCP state chief Praful Patel also attended the meeting.
Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis voiced confidence in the Mahayuti Alliance's harmony, noting that seat allocation discussions were ongoing and expected to be settled soon, the report added.
Fadnavis stated, "Whenever it comes to ticket distribution for the Lok Sabha, it is based on the ground reality only."
He underlined that ticket allocation decisions would be based on facts and that alliance members would not dispute on them. Fadnavis warned against speculating before formal announcements were made, stating that decisions would be communicated soon.
"Everything is going well between the three parties of our alliance. Discussion is still going on two or three seats on which there was a deadlock but that too will be resolved soon. There is no dispute of any kind between us. There should not be any speculation about the seats before the announcement because it seems incorrect. Whatever decision will be taken will come before you in a day or two," Fadnavis was quoted as saying in the ANI report.
"Whenever it comes to ticket distribution for Lok Sabha, any party or any leader can make any demand, but when the decision on ticket distribution is taken, it will be based on the ground reality only," he added
