Mumbai, Sep 30 (IANS): Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold interactive meetings with the BJP functionaries on October 1 during his Mumbai visit to review the preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections.

According to the state BJP, the Home Minister will meet the party functionaries from Mumbai’s 36 assembly constituencies and later will hold an interactive meeting in Navi Mumbai.

It is the Union Home Minister’s third visit since he met the state BJP core committee on September 8 in Mumbai and later he visited the parts of Vidarbha, Marathwada, North Maharashtra and Western Maharashtra on September 24 and 25.

The Home Minister’s Mumbai visit is important as the party, which had won 16 seats, is keen to increase its tally by contesting the ensuing Assembly election with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar faction.

Apart from Mumbai, the BJP is quite keen to increase its strike in the adjoining Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Dombivali and Palghar which together have 24 seats.

The Home Minister has asked the party functionaries to work hard not only for the victory of the BJP candidates but also of Shiv Sena and NCP with the sole objective of retaining MahaYuti’s power after the Assembly election.

He has also exhorted the party workers to counter the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s “fake narratives” by stepping up their outreach with the voters taking up the development works of the Centre and the MahaYuti.

He also asked the party workers to improve MahaYuti’s performance to wipe out its dismal performance in the general elections.

The Home Minister last week met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and reviewed the seat-sharing arrangement that is being finalised soon.

A section of the BJP is pressing for 150 to 160 seats leaving the balance 128 to Shiv Sena and NCP.

A senior BJP functionary, privy to these talks, said that the Home Minister has assured that a respectable seat-sharing arrangement will be finalised soon.

However, Home Minister Amit Shah has indicated that winnability will be the major criteria for nomination and the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP will have to either drop the sitting legislators or give new faces to increase the MahaYuti’s tally.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday dared Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray to contest the Assembly election in Maharashtra and later criticise the party leaders including Devendra Fadnavis.

Instead of a member of the state legislative council, Bawankule said that Thackeray should elect himself directly from the people.

Bawankule criticised Thackeray for “leaving” Hindutva, which was advocated by his father and the Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, to get power by joining hands with Congress and NCP.