BJP launches preparations for LS polls in Maharashtra well in advance

In the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP on Thursday appointed 'election chiefs' in all the Parliamentary constituencies in the state for better preparations, well in advance.

The BJP would contest the local bodies elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in alliance with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, however, the seat-sharing formula is yet to be announced.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats and 288 Vidhan Sabha seats spread over 36 districts of the western state.

“The election chiefs would prepare a ground for the polls and manage the affairs of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies,” state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule said.

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“In alliance with the Shiv Sena, we will contest Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis,” Bawankule told reporters after making the announcement.

According to him, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance will win more than 45 Lok Sabha and more than 200 Vidhan Sabha seats. “In the seats where the Shiv Sena would be contesting, the BJP election chiefs will work with the teams of the Eknath Shinde-led party,” he said.

Last time, Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena and BJP contested against the Congress-NCP Democratic Front in the polls.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine had won 41 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra with BJP bagging 23 and Sena 18. On the other hand, NCP contested 19 seats and won four, while the Congress managed to get just one seat. For 288 assembly seats, polls were held in September-October in which BJP contested in 164 seats and won 105, while Sena bagged 56 seats after putting up candidates in 124 seats.

After the June 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, the Shiv Sena has 13 Lok Sabha and 40 Vidhan Sabha members as against five and 16 of the Shiv Sena (UBT).