Shinde meets PM Modi in Delhi for an hour as Mahayuti tussles over Pune teachers' seat

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is on a visit to Delhi and has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two are said to have spoken for about an hour. The issues discussed have not been officially disclosed so far.

Shinde's Delhi visit is being seen as significant in view of the upcoming Legislative Council elections. Political circles are talking of a possible Cabinet expansion and the drought-like situation in the state also having come up at the meeting.

The Pune teachers' and Pune graduates' constituencies are set to be important in the coming Legislative Council elections. The BJP had already staked claim to both.

Minister Chandrakant Patil had said both seats belonged to the BJP. Minister Jaykumar Gore had also said the election would be fought as the Mahayuti, but that the BJP was prepared to contest on its own if needed. As expected, both seats now appear to be going to the BJP within the Mahayuti.

Even so, a new twist has emerged within the Mahayuti over the Pune teachers' constituency. Shiv Sena's Mangesh Chivte is keen to contest from the constituency.

According to information that has surfaced, Eknath Shinde himself has asked Mangesh Chivte to file his nomination from the Pune Legislative Council constituency.

Minister Uday Samant has since backed Chivte's candidacy. Samant had said: "We have a claim on the Pune teachers' constituency, and Mangesh Chivte will file his nomination from here."

Amid these developments, the meeting between Eknath Shinde and Narendra Modi is being seen as significant. There is no official information at present on whether issues such as seat-sharing in the Legislative Council elections, the claims being made within the Mahayuti on the Pune teachers' constituency and a possible Cabinet expansion were discussed.

Mahayuti constituents and political circles are now watching what is decided on the Pune teachers' constituency after the Modi-Shinde meeting. It remains to be seen whether Chivte's candidacy stays and how the knot between the BJP and the Shiv Sena is untied.