Mumbai, Apr 30 (PTI) Fourteen nominations were filed for the election to ten seats in the Maharashtra legislative council as the deadline ended on Thursday, officials said, adding that the contest was likely to be unopposed as four independents do not fulfil the mandatory criteria.
The ruling BJP fielded six candidates while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) fielded one nominee for the sole seat it can win.
The biennial election is slated for May 12. An official said that 14 candidates have filed nomination papers, but the four independents among them do not fulfil the mandatory criteria and are likely to be disqualified during the scrutiny.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations is May 4.
The MVA fielded Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve, a former leader of opposition in the council. Sources said that Danve and Sena (UBT) secretary Milind Narvekar spoke to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who heads the rival Shiv Sena, and requested him not to field an extra third candidate so that the election is unopposed.
Shinde’s party re-nominated Neelam Gorhe, incumbent deputy chairperson of the council, and former MLA Bacchu Kadu who joined the party on Thursday. Gorhe will be contesting her fifth legislative council election.
Kadu left the then undivided Shiv Sena in 1999, and established the Prahar Janashakti Paksh which has its base in Amravati district. On Friday, he rejoined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. In 2022, Kadu was one of the MLAs aligned with Shinde when the latter revolted against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership and toppled the Thackeray-led MVA government.
Kadu told reporters that he met Shinde late Wednesday night and placed before him his demands regarding the issues of farmers, farm labourers and divyang (differently-abled) people.
“Shinde assured me of support for my causes, and therefore I have decided to join the Shiv Sena,” he said.
Another ruling ally, the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, fielded Zeeshan Siddique, former MLA from Vandre East constituency in Mumbai.
“The party has fulfilled the promise made by Ajit Dada (late Ajit Pawar) and sent me to the council. I will raise issues pertaining to the minorities and youth in the house,” Siddique told reporters.
Some drama was witnessed in the opposition’s camp in the last few days as the Shiv Sena (UBT) sprang a surprise by fielding Danve instead of party chief Uddhav Thackeray whose term as a Member of Legislative Council is set to expire.
The Congress, which had insisted that Thackeray recontest as MVA candidate, was irked and announced that it would field its own candidate. After Sena (UBT) leaders Anil Desai, Milind Narvekar and Sachin Ahir met state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, the grand old party relented and decided to support Danve.
“We were of the opinion that there was a need to have discussion (on Danve’s candidature),” Sapkal said at a press conference with Desai and NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule sitting next to him.
“It was discussed that in 2028 (when further Rajya Sabha and legislative council polls are due), Congress party will get priority (in seat allocation),” Sapkal said.
“The Congress will get priority in future polls,” he added.
The term of nine council members including former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will end on May 13.
The ruling BJP fielded Sunil Vinayak Karjatkar, Madhavi Naik, Sanjay Natthuji Bhende, Vivek Bipindada Kolhe and Pramod Shantaram Jathar. It also fielded Pradnya Rajeev Satav for a separate byeletction.
All six candidates filed their papers in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Karjatkar is a veteran BJP member, once close to late party stalwart Pramod Mahajan. He had acted as a poll strategist for the party earlier.
Vivek Kolhe is the son of former BJP MLA Snehalata Kolhe who could not contest the 2024 assembly polls from Kopargaon assembly segment as it was allotted to the ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Sanjay Bhende was in-charge of Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s Lok Sabha election in 2024, and is chairperson of Nagpur Urban Cooperative Bank.
Madhavi Naik, general secretary of the state BJP, hails from Thane.
Pramod Jathar is a former BJP MLA from Sindhudurg district.
A by-election will be conducted for the vacancy caused by Pradnya Satav’s resignation as a Congress MLC. Her term was originally to end on July 27, 2030, but she chose to switch her allegiance to the BJP mid-term.
The 288-member Maharashtra legislative assembly forms the electoral college for the elections, and each candidate will need at least 28 votes to win.
In the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP has 132 MLAs, the Shiv Sena 57 and the NCP 41. The alliance, thus, can win at least eight seats.
The opposition MVA has a combined strength of 46, enough to secure the election of one candidate. PTI PR ND GK NP KRK
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