The ruling alliance Mahayuti and Opposition front Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have sped up closed-door activities for the Assembly elections that are expected to be notified early next month. The NDA (Mahayuti)— still working on seat-sharing— is, like its rivals, not finding it easy to finalise a formula. A demanding BJP has set a target of winning 125 seats in 2024, and to achieve this, it wants to contest 155-160 seats and share the rest with NDA partners, of which an equally demanding Shinde Sena appears to be more aggressive in pushing for more seats in Mumbai and MMR, where the BJP has the most number of MLAs.

The priority for the Mahayuti and MVA alliances is to share the 288 seats in a competitive atmosphere without much friction that can offer their respective opponent an advantage. MVA leaders met on Wednesday at the insistence of Shiv Sena (UBT). Sources said it was a precursor to the final talks about Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra. It was said that the MVA has an agreement on 125 seats where only one party has staked its claim. According to Sena leader Sanjay Raut, the talks were to be held over the next three days. A halfway mark of 145 of 288 seats is required to form a government. MVA leaders have been consistent in saying that they will overshoot the simple majority target.