Of the 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) seats going to polls, six candidates have already been elected unopposed after the withdrawal of nominations ended on Thursday. However, the remaining 11 seats have turned into high-stakes contests, giving the leadership of both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) sleepless nights due to rebellion in some seats. Voting for the remaining seats will be held on June 18, while counting of votes is scheduled for June 22.
Rebels in MVA, Mahayuti
On the last day for withdrawal of nominations, Shiv Sena (UBT) suffered a setback in the Konkan division after its candidate withdrew from the race. The development came after he was seen with Nitesh Rane, a leader from the Mahayuti (BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction) and claimed he was unable to secure the required support and signatures from MVA, comprising Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP-SP, for his nomination.
Arun Lakhani, BJP candidate from Wardha. PIC/X/@lakhaniarun1
Cracks have also surfaced within the Mahayuti. In Nashik, despite the seat being allotted to the Shinde Sena, a BJP leader refused to back down. A similar situation emerged in Jalgaon, where a Shiv Sena candidate has stayed in the contest despite the seat being allocated to BJP. The developments have brought internal tensions within the Mahayuti into the open. The situation is almost similar in Ahilyanagar (formerly known as Ahmednagar), where BJP’s Prajakt Tanpure, who recently quit NCP-SP and joined the BJP, is contesting the polls.
Money at play?
NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar, grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, alleged that he had been hearing reports of large sums of money changing hands ahead of the MLC polls. He also claimed that corporators will be offered hefty amounts to influence their votes in the election.
Mahayuti confident
Stating that rebel candidates would not affect ties within the Mahayuti alliance, ruling alliance leaders expressed confidence that all 17 seats would be won by the coalition. They maintained that corporators would vote only for the officially nominated Mahayuti candidates and indicated that disciplinary action could be initiated against those who defy the party’s directives or engage in cross-voting.
Six elected unopposed
Among the six candidates elected unopposed to the MLC from the 17 seats scheduled for polls on June 18 are Aniket Tatkare, son of NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, from the Konkan division, and Arun Lakhani of the BJP from Wardha, who is the father-in-law of Revati Sule, daughter of NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule.
* This article was originally published here
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