BJP to focus on 125 seats in Maharashtra, with aim to cross 100

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up to contest 150-160 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, with an aim to win over 100. Union home minister Amit Shah discussed the BJP’s poll preparations during a meeting in Mumbai on Monday, where he indicated that reports from party leaders from other states who were working in Maharashtra ahead of the state polls could play an important role in deciding which seats and candidates it selects.
Shah is on a two-day visit to Mumbai to attend a function organised by a Gujarati media organisation. After attending the event, the 59-year-old met with state BJP leaders to discuss the current political situation in Maharashtra and the party’s preparations for the assembly polls. Shah also discussed the effects and reactions among people about the Mahayuti government’s recently announced populist schemes. He told party leaders to concentrate on the beneficiaries of the various schemes in the assembly constituencies.
In order to form a government in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, the BJP believes it needs to win over 100 seats. And to do that, the party is likely to contest around 150-160 seats, with “a special focus” on 125 of them on the basis of internal reports about the winning possibility of party candidates, said a leader who was part of the meeting.
Ahead of the polls, the BJP drafted leaders from other states to work in various regions in Maharashtra to get a fresh perspective. Leaders from Chhattisgarh are working and analysing the constituencies in Marathwada, while those from Madhya Pradesh and Telangana are working in the Vidarbha region. Some leaders from Kerala were working in the Mumbai region.
In the meeting, Shah indicated that these teams have started sending reports to the party headquarters in Delhi. These reports would play an important role in deciding the seats and candidates for the assembly elections.
On Monday, Shah also visited the famous Lalbaugcha Raja, an annual ritual of his during the Ganpati festival, and the Bandra West Ganesh pandal, which is associated with Mumbai BJP chief and his close aide Ashish Shelar.
Shah also visited the homes of chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for Ganesh darshan. Before departing the city, he also met with deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Nationalist Congress Party leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, among others.