The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Opposition alliance in Maharashtra, have reportedly inked a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) is likely to contest 21 seats, while the Congress may fight in 15 seats and the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP could get nine seats, an India Today report said.
Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA), the party led by Prakash Ambedkar, is likely to contest two seats and Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Paksha may get one seat, sources added.
In the 2019 election, the Sena (then undivided and allied with the BJP) contested 23 seats and won 18. The Congress only won Chandrapur, while Sharad Pawar's NCP (also then undivided) fought from 19 seats and won four.
The BJP dominated that poll, winning 23 of the 25 seats.
This time around the BJP will be backed by rebel factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP, which are led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, each of whom led revolts - which were seen as being backed by the BJP - within their parties and then joined the saffron outfit.
This deal comes after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi reached out to Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.
Gandhi spoke to the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader for an hour.