Mumbai, Oct 27 (Reporter) With barely two days left for filing of nominations for the Maharashtra Assembly election, an acceptable seat-sharing formula continues to elude the two principal alliances - the ruling Maha Yuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Maha Yuti, hoping to retain power by overcoming the Lok Sabha poll setback, is still engaged in intense discussions to come up with an amicable division of the total 288 seats among the partners. However, the three constituents - the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-headed NCP — have announced candidates for 211 seats. While the BJP has named contestants for 121 seats, Shiv Sena and NCP have fielded nominees in 45 seats each. As many as 77 seats, more than one-fourth of the strength of the House, continue to be the bone of contention in the ruling formation, while Monday is the last date for joining the electoral fray. Sources in the Maha Vikas Aghadi have spoken of an 85-85-85 formula among Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP), though the official final word is still pending. The MVA leaders have also given news bytes that other outfits like the Samajwadi Party (SP) would be allotted some seats. But further complicating matters, some leaders in both Congress and Thackeray’s party have claimed, mainly off the record, that they plan to contest 100 plus seats. With time running out, the UBT Sena has declared 83 candidates, followed by Congress in 71 and NCP (SP) in 67 seats. But in a sign of the work that lies ahead of the allies, there are candidates of more than one partner in some of the announced seats. While both alliances claim that seat-sharing discussions will be concluded to everybody's satisfaction by the Monday deadline, reports suggest hard bargaining was on. Political observers could well brace themselves up for a cliffhanger. In the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, the MVA had bagged 30 seats. While the Congress got 13, the UBT won 9, and NCP (SP) took poll position in eight constituencies. A dissident Congress candidate also tested success contesting as an independent and later pledged loyalty to the grand old party. On the other hand, the Maha Yuti could win only 17 seats - BJP 9, Shiv Sena 7 and NCP 1...////...