Amit Shah meets Mahayuti leaders to sort out seat-sharing niggles

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar to iron out issues related to seat sharing for the November 20 assembly elections. The three leaders had rushed to Delhi for the second time within a week for consultations about seat sharing of the ruling Mahayuti alliance that were stalled due to differences over certain segments claimed by both the Shiv Sena and the BJP .

Sources said Shah asked the alliance partners to work unitedly and strengthen the coalition to take on the rival Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT).

They said discussions on seat sharing would now shift to Mumbai and the formula announced shortly.

The Shinde-led Shiv Sena has announced 45 candidates while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP declared its nominees for 38 seats in the 288-member House.

The BJP has declared its first list of 99 candidates for the November 20 elections.

The saffron party is keen to contest more than 150 seats in a bid to emerge as the single largest party in the post poll scenario.

The last date for filing nominations is October 29.