Mahayuti: Seamless swapping

The Shiv Sena, which is expected to contest 85-odd seats, has borrowed at least seven candidates from the BJP. Its Kudal candidate, Nilesh Rane, is a former MP and son of senior BJP leader Narayan Rane, while the party has fielded senior BJP leader Raosaheb Danve’s daughter Sanjana Danve from Kannad. Both Nilesh and Sanjana joined the Sena just days before their candidacy was announced. Sanjana is pitted against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Udaysinh Rajput.

Other BJP leaders who have crossed over to the Sena are former MP Rajendra Gavit and Vilas Tare. They are the party’s Palghar and Boisar candidates. The Sena’s Bhiwandi East candidate, Santosh Shetty, pitted against sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh, recently joined the Sena from the BJP. Shetty fought the 2019 assembly polls as a Congress candidate, switched to the BJP and is now with the Sena. In Andheri East, BJP leader Murji Patel has switched to the Sena, and is contesting against the Sena (UBT)’s Rutuja Latke.

Sanjay Kaka Patil, who lost to Congress’s Vishal Patil in the Lok Sabha polls, was inducted into the Sena from the BJP so that he could be fielded from Tasgaon in Sangli. He will face-off against Rohit Patil, the NCP (SP) candidate and son of former home minister R R Patil.

Similarly, the BJP has ensured a ticket for its senior Dalit leader and former minister, Rajkumar Badole, from Arjuni Morgaon in Gondia, by facilitating his induction into the NCP, which has denied a ticket to its sitting MLA Manohar Chandrikapure. The BJP’s former MP from Nanded, Prataprao Chikhalikar, has also joined the NCP and been fielded from Loha.

Shiv Sena spokesperson and deputy leader, Krishna Hegde, said “It was part of the Mahayuti’s strategy to field its best candidates, those who had elective merit. Borrowing candidates from the BJP will help us win those seats.”

A BJP leader said the strategy would ensure the defeat of key opposition candidates. “For instance, Nilesh Rane has been pitted against Vaibhav Naik, who defeated Narayan Rane in the 2014 Assembly polls. Nilesh was inducted into the Sena for two reasons. One, the BJP cannot give three tickets to one family as Nilesh’s brother Nitesh is a BJP candidate from Kankavali and father is the party MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg. Second, if the fight is Sena versus Sena, it would improve our poll prospects,” he said.

The BJP leader also said that by swapping candidates, the parties had avoided swapping constituencies. “For instance, in Andheri East, the constituency was with the Shiv Sena but the better candidate was the BJP’s Murji Patel. The two parties decided to swap candidates instead of the constituency.”

MVA: Deep fissures

The discord over seats in the MVA continues even with only hours left for filing nominations. Of the total 288 assembly seats, the three parties in the MVA are yet to declare their candidates in 20 seats, while in two other seats, more than one party has staked its claim.

For instance, in Paranda the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have fielded Ranjit Patil and Rahul Mote, respectively, while in Solapur South, the Sena (UBT) and Congress have announced Amar Patil and Dilip Mane, respectively.

Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said with distinct sarcasm, “Congress has declared a candidate for Solapur South and I see it as a typing mistake. However, we can also make such mistakes.” The deep rift in the coalition was reflected in what he said next. “For Miraj too, I have learnt that Congress is planning to field a candidate. If that happens, it can spread across the state and then the entire MVA would be in trouble.”

The Congress was more restrained. The party’s state president Nana Patole said, “The decision was taken by the leadership; it will be discussed at that level only. As a state leader, we will not respond to him (Sanjay Raut).”

Among the 20 seats still up for grabs are three in Mumbai — Colaba, Mulund and Borivali. The Congress wants at least two more seats. It has also not given up its claim to Byculla and Versova, where the Sena (UBT) declared candidates last week. “Although the Congress wants one or two more seats in Mumbai, this is not open to discussion, as far as we are concerned,” Raut said.

Of the 36 seats in Mumbai, the Sena (UBT) currently has 21 seats, the Congress 10 and NCP (SP) two.

Congress insiders accused the Sena (UBT) of cornering seats in constituencies where the Congress stands a better chance of winning. “They are also unwilling to share a reasonable number of seats with us in Mumbai,” said a Congress functionary.

There is friction between the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) over the Paranda seat, although party leaders claim they will soon sort it out.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar played down the dissent in the MVA. Where more than one alliance partner has filed nominations for the same constituency, he denied it was an attempt to stake their claim to the seat. “Since a decision hasn’t been reached on these seats, we have advised both parties to submit their nominations, as there is still time to withdraw them,” said Pawar.

Meanwhile, the Sena (UBT) and Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), another MVA ally, are locked in battle over Sangola constituency. Similarly, the Congress has declared candidates for Bhiwandi West and Malegaon Central seats sought by the Samajwadi Party.