Well begun is half done?

As elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly come closer, political parties across the spectrum are struggling to reach a basic organising principle for seat sharing. ADITI PHADNIS writes

- ADITI PHADNIS

The background is the upheaval that followed the 2019 Assembly elections: the Shiv Sena, under Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, fought in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but walked out of it weeks later to join the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress grouping that calls itself the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

More fractures followed as both the Shiv Sena and the NCP split with factions led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar joining the BJP-led Mahayuti. Many old friends now became bitter foes and the erstwhile allies turned rivals.

There was some reflection of this political confusion in the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections. Smita Wagh, BJP member of Parliament (MP) from Jalgaon, said cautiously: "Yes, people found it strange that till yesterday we were attacking leaders like Ajit Pawar but now we are defending them."

It is not just that the old poles of power have shifted in political parties as a result of new alignments. It is also that new ones have emerged. For instance, Anees Ahmad, former member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and Congress leader from Nagpur, confessed the new bonhomie between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav could lead to the Congress signing over several seats in Maharashtra to the SP, "seats that the Congress could have won".

And this much is clear: That in the upcoming Assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.