MUMBAI: The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday said it has finalised the seat-sharing agreement for the June 18 Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, with the Congress set to contest the highest eight of the 17 seats.
State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the MVA, which also includes the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP), reached a consensus on all 17 seats.
Congress will contest Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Amravati, Ahilyanagar, Solapur, Dharashiv and Nagpur (where a byelection is being held), he said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest six seats: Raigad, Jalgaon, Parbhani-Hingoli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded and Nashik. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP will contest Pune, Thane and Sangli-Satara, Sapkal said.
The ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance has yet to announce its seat-sharing formula.
June 1 is the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 2, the last date for withdrawal is June 4, and polling will be held on June 18. Votes will be counted on June 22.
Elected members of local governing bodies form the electorate for the election, necessitated by the expiry of the six-year term of the incumbent MLCs.
The Solapur seat was held by Prashant Paricharak of the BJP. Ahilyanagar was represented by Arun Jagtap of the undivided NCP.
Thane was represented by Ravindra Phatak of the undivided Shiv Sena. Jalgaon was held by Chandubhai Patel of the BJP, while Sangli-Satara was represented by Mohanrao Kadam of the Congress.
Nanded was represented by Congress leader Amar Rajurkar. Yavatmal was represented by Dushyant Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena. Pune seat was held by Anil Bhosale of the NCP.
Bhandara-Gondia was represented by BJP leader Parinay Fuke. Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg was held by NCP leader Aniket Tatkare. Nashik was represented by Narendra Darade of the Shiv Sena.
Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli was represented by BJP's Ramdas Ambatkar. Amravati was held by BJP's Pravin Pote. Dharashiv-Latur-Beed was represented by BJP's Suresh Dhas.
Parbhani-Hingoli was represented by Shiv Sena leader Viplav Bajoria, while Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna was represented by Ambadas Danve of the Shiv Sena (UBT). Nagpur was held by BJP leader and minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule who had to vacate the seat after being elected to the state assembly.
Discussions within the ruling Mahayuti coalition are in final stages, sources said, adding that 16 of the 17 seats have been decided while the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna seat is a sticking point.
The BJP is likely to contest 10 or 11 seats, the Shiv Sena four and the NCP two, the sources said.
The BJP is expected to contest Nagpur, Ahilyanagar, Dharashiv, Jalgaon, Solapur, Latur, Nanded, Amravati, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Bhandara-Gondia and Sangli-Satara. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena may contest Thane, Yavatmal, Nashik and Parbhani-Hingoli. The Sunetra Pawar-led NCP is likely to get Pune and a Konkan seat.
Sapkal, meanwhile, alleged that the BJP was using money power to influence the polls.
"Corporators are being lured with advance payments, and elections are being fought with money power," the Congress leader claimed.