Mumbai:

In a worrying sign for the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, which was riding high after winning 30 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted for candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the Legislative Council polls on Friday, sources said. 

The polls, which are generally a straightforward affair, were seen as the semi-finals ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections – expected to be held around November – because 12 candidates were vying for 11 seats. 

The opposition alliance had forced the election by fielding one more candidate than it had the numbers to elect, possibly hoping to benefit from cross-voting by MLAs from the ruling coalition, but seems to have ended up losing votes instead.

The Maharashtra Assembly has a strength of 288 MLAs but currently has 274 sitting legislators. This meant that each MLC candidate needed 23 first-preference votes to win.

The Mahayuti – part of the larger NDA alliance – which consists of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar wing of the NCP, fielded nine candidates and had 201 MLAs, including Independents and smaller parties, backing it. 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is under the INDIA umbrella, has the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) as its key constituents and had put up three candidates despite having the support of only 67 MLAs. 

Six MLAs, including an independent, were neutral. 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was hoping that it would get some votes from the Mahayuti, especially amid the buzz of some leaders from the Ajit Pawar NCP group being in touch with the Sharad Pawar faction.

The candidate backed by the Sharad Pawar faction, Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party, however, lost because he did not get enough votes. The Congress candidate and the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate sailed through, as did five from the BJP and two each from the Shinde Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

Sources said the Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first-preference votes for its candidate Pradyna Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to Milind Narvekar of the Shiv Sena UBT. 

Mr Satav got 25 first preference votes and Mr Narvekar got 22, which means at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted, they added.

Mumbai:

Resort politics has made a comeback in Maharashtra, as has the possibility of cross-voting and horsetrading, as the state gears up to hold elections for 11 Legislative Council seats on Friday. Riding high after its unexpectedly good performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it won 30 of the state’s 48 seats, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has fielded three candidates, one more than it has the numbers to elect, necessitating the election.

The Maharashtra Assembly, which has 288 seats, currently has 274 members, meaning that every MLC candidate needs 23 first-preference votes to get elected. The ruling Mahayuti – part of the larger NDA alliance – which consists of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar wing of the NCP, has fielded nine candidates and has 201 MLAs, including Independents and smaller parties, backing it. 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is under the INDIA umbrella, has the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) as its key constituents and has put up three candidates despite having the support of only 67 MLAs. Six MLAs, including an independent, are neutral and may end up playing a key role in the elections because 12 candidates are now vying for 11 Lok Sabha seats. 

What makes the exercise interesting, apart from the numbers game, is its timing – just after the Lok Sabha elections and months ahead of the Assembly polls in the state – which has led to it being dubbed a semi-final. This is also only the second time that elections will be held in Maharashtra’s unique political environment, where the split of two regional parties has led to two Shiv Senas and two NCPs – under very similar but different names – being pitted against each other. 

The Lok Sabha polls were the first round and parties from both sides are now pulling out all stops to ensure that they come out tops in the second. After Ajit Pawar’s NCP won just one Lok Sabha seat, there has been a strong buzz that MLAs from his party are looking to jump ship and return to the faction of the party led by Sharad Pawar. Their support is what may have given the opposition the confidence to field a third candidate.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who triggered the need for the election by fielding his close aide, Milind Narvekar, had said, “We would not be doing it (fielding a third candidate) if we had not been confident of winning.”

How The Numbers Stack Up – Mahayuti

The BJP, which has 103 MLAs, has fielded five candidates – Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe and Sadabhau Khot – which means that it is 12 MLAs short of the number it needs to get them elected.

The Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena has 37 members in the Assembly and has put up two candidates – Krupal Tumane and Bhawana Gawli. It is nine MLAs short.

The faction of the NCP led by Ajit Pawar has 39 MLAs and has two candidates in the fray,  Rajesh Vitekar and Shivajirao Garje, falling seven short of the 46 votes needed to get them elected. 

The ruling coalition is, however, banking on nine MLAs from smaller parties and 13 Independents to see it through. 

How The Numbers Stack Up – Maha Vikas Aghadi

The Congress, with 37 MLAs and one candidate, Pradyna Satav, is the only party with 14 surplus votes. Sharad Pawar’s NCP, with its 13 MLAs, is supporting the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP’s) Jayant Patil. 

Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena has put up Mr Narve as a candidate despite having just 15 MLAs, eight short of the figure it needs. 

The Congress votes may make up for the shortfall faced by Mr Patil and Mr Narve but the votes of the AIMIM’s two MLAs, the SP’s two, the CPI(M)’s lone MLA and one Independent – all of whom are seen to be neutral – will be key. The Congress has claimed the coalition has the support of at least some of these MLAs

MLAs In Hotels

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar of the Congress, organised a dinner meeting for his party MLAs at a hotel in Mumbai on Thursday night. The Congress has issued a whip to its MLAs asking them to vote for candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Exact instructions, given the surplus votes, will be issued just before voting begins, reported news agency PTI. 

Uddhav Thackeray held a dinner interaction with his MLAs at a five-star hotel in central Mumbai on Wednesday night. All 11 MLAs who attended the meeting stayed back at the hotel, where they were joined by the four remaining legislators on Thursday, said a party leader. 

Ajit Pawar’s NCP has moved its MLAs to a five-star hotel near the airport in suburban Mumbai while MLAs from Shiv Sena gathered in Vidhan Bhavan complex on Wednesday morning for a meeting and then moved to a five-star hotel in Bandra. 

BJP MLAs are also at a luxury hotel, but the the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) has not made any such move. 

Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra president of the NCP, said, “We have full faith in our MLAs and don’t feel the need to keep them in five-star hotels.” 

Voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm and counting of votes will begin an hour later. 

(With inputs from PTI)

Mumbai:

Nationalist Congress Party leader Amol Mitkari has sparked speculation regarding the possibility of the Mahayuti members contesting the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls independently if each constituent insists on demanding 100 seats, drawing the ire of the BJP.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday evening, Mr Mitkari emphasised the impracticality of accommodating such demands within the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly.

The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

“If each constituent adamantly insists on contesting 100 assembly seats in the upcoming state elections, then the parties will have to contest separately. With only 288 assembly seats available, being offered only 55 seats would be unacceptable for the party,” said Mr Mitkari, who is an MLC and NCP spokesperson.

Pravin Darekar, BJP legislative party leader in the Legislative Council, responded by saying, “Mitkari should be reined in by senior leaders of his party. The party’s chief or state president should clarify whether Mitkari is authorised to make such comments. Seat-sharing discussions will take place among the top leaders.”

Mr Mitkari had recently criticised BJP leaders, defending NCP chief Ajit Pawar.

Following the Pune Porsche car accident, Mr Mitkari insinuated that similar incidents had occurred when BJP leader and state minister for higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil was the guardian minister of Pune district.

The BJP has refuted Mr Mitkari’s claims and urged the NCP to caution him against making such comments.

Mr Mitkari recently advocated an alliance with the Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which hobnobbed with Maha Vikas Aghadi, for the Maharashtra assembly elections, with a caveat that it was his personal view.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Finalising seat-sharing in Maharashtra, which sends the second-highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha, has proven to be tricky for the National Democratic Alliance, with all three key partners – the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP – pushing for a higher number of seats than the others are willing to concede. With BJP’s chief troubleshooter and Union Home Minister Amit Shah holding a late-night meeting on Tuesday with leaders of the other parties, sources said a breakthrough is expected soon.

Party sources said the meeting started around 10.15 pm and Mr Shah held a discussion with Deputy Chief Minister Pawar in the presence of BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the first 30 minutes, after which the two leaders left. The next 50 minutes saw talks between the Home Minister and Chief Minister Shinde. 

Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP wants 30 to be able to achieve its twin targets of winning 370 seats nationally and taking the NDA to the 400 mark. Sources said the party is willing to leave 12 seats from the Shiv Sena and six for the NCP, a prospect the other partners of the Mahayuti – as the alliance is known in Maharashtra –  are not happy with. 

Pointing out that the Sena symbol and name are with him, Chief Minister Shinde, sources said, has been pushing to be allocated 23 seats, the same number that the undivided Shiv Sena had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – before the split in 2022. Failing that, Mr Shinde and his party are reportedly ready to settle for 18 seats, which the Shiv Sena had won in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP’s division of constituencies with the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had caused heartburn on both sides even in 2019. The national party had contested 25 seats and won 23 while the Sena had contested 23 and won 18. The BJP camp, sources said, believes it is entitled to a larger share than last time given PM Narendra Modi’s popularity and the fact that it is the single-largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly. 

Complicating matters, however, is the entry of Ajit Pawar’s NCP, which joined the government last year and is pushing for 10 Lok Sabha seats. The then Sharad Pawar-led united NCP had only won four in 2019.

Contentious Seats

Sources said while a consensus is emerging on most other seats, 10 are proving to be a bone of contention. These are Kalyan, South Mumbai, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Shirur, Amravati, Sambhajinagar Nagar, Hingoli, Nashik, Ramtek and Maval

In Kalyan, Chief Minister Shinde’s son, Shrikant Shinde is the sitting MP, but the local unit of BJP wants to contest from the constituency. The BJP claims Kalyan is a traditional seat of the party which it had given to Shiv Sena in 2019 under pressure from Uddhav Thackeray. Union Minister Anurag Thakur had also conducted a review of the constituency and apprised the central leadership.

Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is the sitting MP from the South Mumbai constituency and the Shinde faction is keen to contest on it because it is traditionally a Sena seat. Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar from the BJP has, however, also shown interest.

In Pune district’s Maval, Shrirang Barne from the Shinde Sena is the sitting MP.  But Ajit Pawar is keen on this seat as his son, Parth Pawar, had lost to Mr Barne in 2019.

Ratnagiri-Sindhadurg in the Konkan region is a Shiv Sena seat but Narayan Rane claimed it for the BJP last week in a post on X. Strongly opposing this, Ramdas Kadam of the Shinde Sena had asked whether the BJP wanted to eliminate every party and contest the Lok Sabha election alone. 

Shirur in Pune district has proven to be another point of friction. Amol Kolhe from the NCP (Sharadchanrd Pawar) is the sitting MP and the seat is now being claimed by the Ajit Pawar faction. The intent to beat Mr Kolhe has been announced by Mr Pawar himself, but former MP Shivaji Adhalrao Patil from Mr Shinde’s Shiv Sena is also keen on throwing his hat in the ring. 

Navneet Rana is the independent MP from Vidarbha’s Amravati and the BJP has offered the constituency to her to contest on its ticket. The Shinde Sena’s Anandrao Adsul, a former MP, has also claimed the seat. 

Sambhaji Nagar in Aurangabad is the lone seat won by the AIMIM in Maharashtra and Imtiaz Jaleel is the sitting MP. Though the constituency has been traditionally fought by the Shiv Sena, which plans to field Minister Sandeepan Bhumre, the BJP wants it for Union Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Karad.

A seat which is being eyed by all three members of the Mahayuti is Nashik. Hemant Godse from the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena is the sitting MP, but the NCP is keen on fielding someone from Minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s family and the BJP has also staked claim. 

In Aurangabad’s Hingoli, Sena’s Hemant Patil is the sitting MP and had offered to resign during the Maratha reservation protest. The BJP is also, however, interested in fielding its candidate.

Krupal Tumane of the Sena is the sitting MP from Ramtek in Nagpur seat but the local BJP cadre want the constituency for the party. They are, however, willing to settle for Mr Tumane fighting on a BJP ticket, sources said.