Mumbai Fissures in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have come to the fore after its loss in the Rajya Sabha elections, with an upset Shiv Sena demanding that each party take responsibility to ensure the victory of their candidates in the legislative council polls, instead of the alliance making a strategy together.
This means that each party–the Sena, Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)–will have to individually handle its own affairs by arranging surplus votes for their candidates and corralling their legislators to prevent poaching by the opposition. This strategy may add to the troubles of the Congress, which needs extra votes to get its second nominee elected to the upper house.
Meanwhile, with the legislative council elections taking place through secret ballots from an electoral college of MLAs, the possibility of horse-trading and cross-voting are high.
Another loss on the eve of the presidential polls and the local body elections, including that to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may come as a dampener and embarrassment to the MVA.
Insiders in the MVA and BJP said that two candidates—Shivajirao Garje (NCP) and one from the BJP (perhaps Sadabhau Khot)—may withdraw, leaving 11 nominees in the fray for 10 seats. A candidate will need 26 to 27 votes to sail through, depending on the votes cast.
“It is clear that any calculations based on the support of independents can fail. Each party must take charge of ensuring the victory of its nominee (instead of the MVA planning its strategy together). We have communicated this to the Congress and NCP,” a senior Shiv Sena minister told HT, on conditions of anonymity.
The unexpected loss of Sena nominee in the contest for sixth Rajya Sabha seat has been taken seriously by Sena leadership. An irked Sena is now not keen on sharing its surplus votes with allies for council polls.
“The independents who were close to the NCP did not vote for our candidate. Though we cannot put our finger on whether the NCP leadership or a section in it was complicit, these legislators may have been given certain commitments by the BJP,” he explained.
For the legislative council, the BJP has fielded six candidates namely, Pravin Darekar, Shrikant Bharatiya, Ram Shinde, Uma Khapre, Prasad Lad and Khot, with leader of opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s stamp evident on the choices.
The Shiv Sena’s candidates are Sachin Ahir and Amshya Padvi, while the Congress and NCP have fielded Bhai Jagtap and Chandrakant Handore and legislative council chairperson Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, Eknath Khadse and Garje.
Party functionaries HT spoke to said there was disgruntlement against some of these nominees across parties in the MVA. The Congress, which will need eight more votes to get its second candidate elected, is particularly vulnerable, admit party leaders. Lad, a former NCP man turned confidante of leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis, is known to have influence across party lines and the resources to ensure a win.
A Congress minister admitted that the council polls could throw up bigger surprises. He grumbled that one reason for the MVA being on a weaker wicket was chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s inaccessibility, which led to his deputy and NCP strongman Ajit Pawar assuming the de-facto position of the regime’s administrative head.
He added that the MVA would tap into the suppressed undercurrent of anger in the BJP at the choice of nominees and the manner in which the affairs of the party were being managed in Maharashtra. This fishing in troubled waters may lead to some BJP legislators voting for the Congress candidates.
A senior BJP leader confirmed that one of their six candidates could withdraw. “We have a strength of 113, including 106 from the BJP, and need over 20 votes to get our fifth nominee elected. The Shiv Sena and NCP have the bench strength for their candidates to complete their quota of votes, while the Congress is short of about eight votes to get its second candidate elected. Despite this, we are confident that we will make it,” he claimed.
The Shiv Sena minister quoted earlier admitted that Thackeray’s accessibility was a matter of concern. “This was because of the Covid pandemic and his subsequent illness and spine surgery,” he explained.