With the battle for six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra heating up, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday held a meeting of party legislators and sought help of at least 29 other MLAs, including independents and those from smaller parties.
The BJP, which is in the opposition in the state with 106 MLAs and enjoys the support of at least seven other MLAs, held the meeting at a south Mumbai hotel, a day after ruling parties of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition held a show of strength at a similar meeting that was attended by a total of 138 MLAs (including 125 from the three coalition partners – Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress).
The MVA has fielded four candidates – Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar (both Shiv Sena), Praful Patel (NCP) and Imran Pratapgarhi (Congress) but has the numbers to ensure the election of at least three.
The BJP has fielded three candidates – Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik – and has the numbers to push through two. The fight for the sixth Rajya sabha seat from the state is therefore between Sena’s second candidate, Pawar, and BJP’s third candidate, Mahadik.
Senior BJP leaders, including state unit chief Chandrakant Patil, and Union micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) minister Narayan Rane, on Wednesday met party legislators at Taj President hotel in Cuffe Parade and expressed confidence in bagging the sixth seat.
The role of 29 MLAs, including independents and those from smaller parties, is crucial for this seat.
This is the first time in 24 years that an election to the Upper House from the state is witnessing a fierce contest.
So far, the BJP has the backing of seven allies. A party legislator who did not wish to be named said that all BJP legislators and allied MLAs have not yet reached Mumbai.
“Wednesday’s meeting was called to interact with the legislators informally. The final meeting will be held on Thursday, where all the legislators will be told about the voting procedure,” Atul Bhatkhalkar, a BJP MLA, said.
Senior BJP leader and MLA Ashish Shelar met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray to seek the vote of the party’s sole legislator, Raju Patil. Shelar said he was confident of Raj’s support and that the party would win the sixth seat.
“If you see the situation today, it is clear that the BJP will win. The MVA is unable to keep its smaller allies together and the independents are unhappy,” he said.
Sena MLAs have been lodged at Trident since Monday, while NCP and Congress lawmakers are staying at a Powai hotel.
