Mumbai, Oct. 5 -- With biennial elections to five seats in the legislative council due on October 23, differences over seat-sharing have emerged within both the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliances. Within the ruling camp, both the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have staked claim over one of the seats, while in the MVA, the Congress' unilateral declaration of candidates for three seats has upset allies. The Congress is eyeing at least two victories in the poll, so it can stake claim to the Leader of Opposition post in the upper house. On October 23, elections will be held for the Aurangabad, Pune and Nagpur Graduates' constituencies and the Amravati and Pune Teachers' seats. On Friday, Congress announced its candidates for the Nagpur graduates' seat and the Pune and Amravati teachers' constituencies, taking the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) by surprise. The BJP has also announced its candidates for the Nagpur and Pune graduates' and the Pune teachers' constituencies, leaving the e Aurangabad Graduates' constituency for the NCP and the Amravati Teachers' constituency for the Sena. But the Sena has declared that it will also field a candidate in the Pune teachers' constituency. On Friday, after Sena leader and industries minister Uday Samant asserted that Mangesh Chivte would be the party's candidate for the Pune teachers' constituency, Chivte held a show of strength at Theur. Chivte said the Sena had sought the Pune teachers' seat from the BJP while conceding the Pune graduates' seat to the latter, but the seat-sharing arrangement did not go in their favour. Strong support from teachers and Eknath Shinde's instructions had prompted him to contest, he said. While BJP leaders said that the party's claim over three seats was based on its organisational strength in the respective divisions, infighting at the local level is likely to pose a challenge for the ruling alliance. In Amravati, several Shiv Sena leaders - including minister Sanjay Rathod, MP Sanjay Deshmukh and former MLC Shrikant Deshpande - are not in favour of party leader Kiran Sarnaik's candidature. BJP leader Shekhar Bhoyar has also staked claim to the seat. In the Aurangabad division, BJP MLA Prashant Bamb and party leader Sanjay Kenekar have openly opposed the candidature of NCP's Satish Chavan, alleging that he had acted against them in previous polls. In the opposition MVA camp, NCP (SP)'s Pratapsinh Patil has staked a claim to the Aurangabad Graduates' constituency, although the seat is likely to go to the Shiv Sena (UBT). Allies are also upset over the Congress's unilateral declaration of Jayant Asgaonkar, the sitting MLC, as its candidate from Pune Graduates' constituency. NCP (SP) is likely to field Harshada Prabhakar Deshmukh from the seat. Congress state chief Harshavardhan Sakpal, however, denied any resentment within the MVA. "Of the five seats, two are represented by sitting Congress legislators, and the party has given them another opportunity. Discussions are underway for the other two seats. We are all united, and our respective roles will complement each other. There is no deadlock of any kind," he said. Congress leaders said the party was eyeing the post of Leader of the Opposition by winning two of the three seats it was contesting. "We have fair chances of winning the Amravati and Pune teachers' constituencies. In Amravati, our candidate Aaditi Pohare's father, Harshavardhan Deshmukh, a former Congress minister, controls over 550 educational institutions under the banner of Shivaji Shikshan Prasarak Mandal and has the strength to mobilise teachers' votes through them. Her father-in-law, Prakash Pohare, is a media owner, which will also help her. Similarly, the Pune division has strong organisational presence of Vishwajeet Kadam and Satej Patil, who run multiple educational institutions. These factors will help us in winning," said a Congress leader. A source in the Congress said that both the seats up for grabs in the Pune division would witness a battle between prominent political families in western Maharashtra. In the Pune graduates' constituency, the BJP has fielded Smita Jadhav, Congress leader Satej Patil's niece. In the Pune teachers' constituency, the BJP 's Kaustubh Gawde is a staunch supporter of party MP Dhananjay Mahadik, who is an arch rival of Satej Patil, the source said....