Mumbai: In a major twist to the upcoming Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections in Maharashtra, former chief minister and Shiv Sena UBT party leader Uddhav Thackeray has decided to not contest the polls, turning this into a battle within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
All MVA parties had pledged their support to Thackeray as their candidate. The MVA comprises Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. After Shiv Sena UBT announced Ambadas Danve’s name as the official lone MVA candidate, Congress decided to put up its own candidate. But since the MVA has numbers only to elect one candidate, it will be a Congress vs Shiv Sena UBT contest.
Shiv Sena UBT leaders told ThePrint that by announcing Danve’s name, Uddhav, in fact, has given a message that he was not power hungry and gave opportunities to common Shiv Sainiks.
However, analysts say Thackeray had been reluctant to become an MLC even in 2019, and would now be more comfortable looking at party affairs.
The election to Vidhan Parishad will be held on 12 May and looking at the numbers, MVA collectively can put up only 1 candidate.
With Sena UBT’s 20 MLAs and NCP-SP’s 10 MLAs, Ambadas Danve seems to be a shoo-in unless there is cross voting. But if the Congress puts up their candidate, they will need support of at least 13 more MLAs since they have only 16 MLAs.
Reacting to Uddhav Thackeray’s withdrawal from the race, a senior leader of Shiv Sena UBT who did not wished to be named said: “He was never power hungry. He himself in his parting speech had said that his forte was never political but he is an artist at heart. And so now when it mattered, he decided that a senior leader and a Shiv Sainik like Danve should go to the Vidhan Parishad.”
“Yes, we wanted Uddhav saheb to go but I think it is also important that he now concentrate on party affairs like before,” the leader added.
But another functionary close to Thackeray told ThePrint that they believe Shinde would put up another candidate and there might be horse-trading.
“If Shinde puts up another candidate, he will need to buy votes from different parties, including from MVA. And there is a risk that our lone candidate might be defeated. And I don’t think Uddhav-ji was up for this mess,” the functionary said.
Danve was the leader of opposition in the upper house before he retired in August last year. He is from Chhattrapati Sambhajinagar in Marathwada where Shiv Sena UBT has three MPs and a strong presence.
“By sending Ambadas Danve, our party has given a message that we value the work done by our leaders. He was a good opposition leader and performed well and it was expected that he would be given the opportunity,” said Shiv Sena spokesperson Harshal Pradhan to ThePrint
“And Uddhav-ji had already said that he didn’t want to be repeated. Even when his CMship was snatched away, he wanted to step down but Congress requested him to stay and he did. But he was anyway disgusted with the politics going around,” Pradhan said.
However, political analyst Sanjay Patil said one of the reasons Uddhav Thackeray chose Danve was the speculation that Danve would leave the party if not given the MLC opportunity. “What I feel is that for past few months it was speculated that Danve would leave the party and it would not have looked good that an aggressive, bold leader like Danve left the party. This could be one of the reasons Thackeray decided to give the ticket to Danve,” said Patil.
Besides, “he wanted to give the message to the party cadre that he cares for common Shiv Sainiks and lastly, everyone knows how much Thackeray himself was actively interested in administrative work. He was an accidental MLC and it was a question mark on whether he really wanted to join active politics, but now he can look after building the party,” said Patil.
But this has now split the Maha Vikas Aghadi as Congress is planning to field its own candidate. Congress state head Harshwardhan Sapkal is in Delhi currently where he will discuss the matter with the higher ups.
“We had said that our support was for Uddhav Thackeray but now that he is not contesting, our high command and senior leadership will decide what needs to be done,” said senior Congress leader Bhai Jagtap to the media.
But political analyst Abhay Deshpande says that this has defintely made Congress’ position awkward.
“With Uddhav Thackeray not announcing his name, it has stabbed the Congress. They even left Rajya Sabha for Sharad Pawar… now they have made Congress’ position awkward. Now next opportunity is of Rajya Sabha when Sanjay Raut will retire, so will Congress be able to put up its candidate?” asked Deshpande.
“Besides we all know Thackeray was not interested in Vidhan Parishad work of asking questions and participating in debates so he sent his man there,” Deshpande added.
During the Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year, Congress wanted to put up their candidate. Even then the MVA collectively could win only one seat. But since Sharad Pawar decided to run for the election again, Maharashtra Congress backed down on instructions from their high command.
Then again during the Baramati bypoll, Congress said they would put up a candidate to face Sunetra Pawar, widow of Ajit Pawar and deputy CM. But again the Congress backed off after the NCP requested them.
Uddhav Thackeray’s reluctance
“We wanted Uddhav-ji to go but he has given a common Shiv Sainik this opportunity and so I thank him and party,” Ambadas Danve told the media
Uddhav Thackeray became the CM and face of MVA in 2019 and post that in May 2020, out of compulsion, he had to take up the MLC route. Over the next six years, his performance as an MLC was a mixed bag—a lost opportunity mostly.
Though he spoke on issues like farm loan waiver, farmers’ condition, environment and polarisation, overall his attendance at the Vidhan Parishad was low. During his shift from CM to Opposition leader, his speeches softened, which was not the case when he was just the party head.
“He is not in the pink of health and that’s why I think he must have decided that it is better if somebody as experienced and aggressive like Danve represents us. Of course, he will be guiding us all but he also has to look after party affairs,” said another Shiv Sena UBT leader.
Now that Thackeray won’t be an MLC, he can’t be the face of MVA in 2029.
“2029 is still far away and if party leaders start defecting then what can he do? For him, promoting Aditya Thackeray is something he might be looking at at his age,” said Patil.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Uddhav’s first MLC term broke the Thackeray glass ceiling, but was a lost opportunity