After Rajya Sabha polls, another bitter contest between MVA and BJP on the cards

Even before the heat over the Rajya Sabha polls could die down, another election fever has started to grip Maharashtra.

The ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are gearing up for a battle for 10 seats in the state legislative council on June 20.

While the Rajya Sabha polls will be held through the open ballot method on Friday, the council elections are conducted via secret ballot, which means there is possibility of cross-voting and horse-trading.

Based on the current strength of the parties, the MVA could win six and BJP could bag four seats, but with the latter announcing five candidates on Wednesday, there will be a bitter fight between the two camps.

BJP has announced the nominations of Pravin Darekar, leader of opposition in the council, Ram Shinde, former minister and other backward class leader, Shrikant Bharatiya, who was an officer on special duty to Devendra Fadnavis when he was the chief minister, Uma Khapre, a member of legislative council and president of BJP women’s wing, and Prasad Lad, one of Fadnavis’s loyalists.

BJP’s insistence on nominating Lad as the fifth candidate, when it has the numbers to get just four of its nominees elected, means like in the Rajya Sabha elections, the party is eager to force a contest.

“Considering the bench strength of the parties, BJP can get four legislators elected, while it is two each for Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party [NCP], and Congress. However, BJP’s decision to field five candidates may lead to a contest,” a senior Sena minister, requesting anonymity, said.

A BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said while it would be difficult to get legislators of the ruling coalition or the members of legislative assembly (MLAs) supporting the MVA to vote for their candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections, things would be different for the council polls.

“Due to the secret ballot method, there is an opportunity for us to get votes of dissident MLAs of the three ruling parties as well as a significant chunk of legislators from smaller parties and Independents. We are reaching out to them and the outcome of these elections would be surprising for the MVA,” said the leader who is involved in the talks with smaller parties that have 16 votes.

The MLAs will vote for the 10 seats in the upper house of state legislature as they fall vacant this month. To win, a candidate will need 27 first preference votes. The June 20 elections will also witness similar pulls and pressures from both the ruling coalition as well as BJP on the 29 Independents and smaller parties’ MLAs.

The MVA is aiming to win six seats with each of the three parties fielding two candidates. Sena decided to drop party veteran and industries minister Subhash Desai and nominated former minister Sachin Ahir and its activist from Nandurbar, Amshya Padvi. Congress chose Mumbai unit chief Bhai Jagtap and former minister and Dalit leader Chandrakant Handore as its nominees. The NCP had not announced its candidates till late on Wednesday though party insiders said the leadership was considering legislative council chairperson Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar and former BJP minister Eknath Khadse who crossed over to the Sharad Pawar-led party. Thursday is the last date for filing the nominations.