Mumbai: As the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are locked in a prestige battle for the Rajya Sabha, the two fronts are going all-out to ensure that their ailing, Covid-19 positive and incarcerated legislators exercise their franchise in the elections due on 10 June.
One of the prominent names on the list of ailing lawmakers is the leader of the opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who recently tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time.
This list also covers two unwell BJP MLAs from Pune and two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislators, namely Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh, who have both been arrested by central agencies in connection with separate money laundering cases.
A total of seven candidates, including union minister Piyush Goyal, former state minister Dr Anil Bonde and ex-MP Dhananjay (Munna) Mahadik of the BJP, former union minister Praful Patel (NCP), Imran Pratapgarhi (Congress), and Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar of the Shiv Sena are in the fray for six seats.
Pawar and Mahadik, who hail from Kolhapur, are locked in a close contest for the sixth seat with the legislators from smaller parties and independents holding the key to their victory. This is for the first time in 24 years that the elections to the Rajya Sabha, which take place through the open ballot system, are being contested.
According to an aide of Fadnavis, “There is still time to go for the elections. He will get tested again.” He also pointed to how the Maharashtra legislature secretariat had sought advice from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on how legislators with Covid-19 should be allowed to vote.
In the general elections, Covid-19 positive voters with PPE kits are allowed to exercise their franchise during the last hour of voting.
The BJP, meanwhile, is planning to airlift its MLA from Chinchwad Laxman Jagtap, who has battled a serious ailment for almost two months, and Mukta Tilak, who represents the Kasba Peth constituency in Pune city and is unwell for the past few months, having battled cancer and Covid-19.
Malik and Deshmukh, who were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in separate cases, have moved court seeking nod to cast their votes.
Anant Kalse, former principal secretary of the Maharashtra legislature secretariat, said that the facility to vote using the postal ballot was available only for those legislators held in preventive detention. “For those who are ailing, the ECI can use its special prerogative and decide,” he explained.