Pankaja Munde among BJP’s 3 OBC names for MLC polls

MUMBAI: After its poor showing in the Lok Sabha election, the BJP on Monday announced three OBC names among the five candidates it has chosen for the legislative council elections. One of these is the party’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) face Pankaja Munde, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections and the 2019 assembly polls. Munde could also be inducted into the state cabinet during its likely expansion in the next few days.

Former minister of state Parinay Fuke and Yogesh Tilekar are the other OBC faces who have been nominated for the election to 11 council seats on July 12. Apart from them, the BJP’s other nominees are Sadabhau Khot, a farmers’ leader and Amit Gorkhe, a scheduled caste leader. The Congress has renominated sitting MLC Pradnya Satav while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP are expected to announce their nominees late on Monday or Tuesday.

The BJP was drubbed in the recent LS elections, its tally dropping from 23 seats in 2019 to just nine. The party could not win a single seat in Marathwada, where it had four sitting MPs, owing to the unrest in the Maratha community over the reservation quota stir. Similarly, it won just two of the 10 Vidarbha seats where it had won seven in 2019. This loss is attributed largely to unrest among the OBCs. The community, which dominates most of the Vidarbha Lok Sabha seats, was unhappy with the government’s decision to include Marathas in the OBC quota by issuing them Kunbi certificates.

“A section of the state BJP was of the opinion that it could not afford to hurt its traditional OBC vote bank, and safeguarding its interest should be priority, even at the cost of losing the Maratha voter base,” said a senior BJP leader. “The candidature to OBC leaders, especially to Pankaja Munde, is a clear signal to the OBC community.”

Another leader said that the party had also decided to bring back its loyal leaders to centre stage. “The unrest among loyalist leaders and workers cost the BJP dear in the Lok Sabha polls,” he said. “Corrective measures are being taken on this front ahead of the assembly polls.”

Pankaja Munde’s nomination is considered to be a major step taken by the party leadership. “It will help the party consolidate OBC votes, especially the Wanjaris, who have a strong presence in at least four districts,” said the leader. “Secondly, Munde comes with a legacy of party loyalty, and her nomination sends out a message to hardcore party workers and leaders. After her defeat in the 2019 assembly polls, Munde missed the opportunity of a council nomination twice. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was against her elevation.”

According to party insiders, Munde’s nomination in the council elections is being seen as a setback to Fadnavis. Party leaders believe that she could be considered for the post of deputy chief minister if the BJP leadership agrees to Fadnavis’ demand to relieve him from the post as he had requested the party’s central leadership after the Lok Sabha results.

Barring Munde, the four other names announced by the BJP are considered close confidants of Fadnavis. Yogesh Tilekar is a former MLA from Hadapsar, while Gorkhe is a Matang community member from Pimpri-Chinchwad. Khot is the founder of the Rayat Kranti Sanghatana and was minister of state in the Fadnavis government. Fuke is an OBC leader from Bhandara and was also a minister of state. He was eyeing the Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat.

Of the 11 council seats that will be elected by MLAs, the Mahayuti can win nine seats based on its strength while the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi could bag two. The Shinde Sena and the Ajit Pawar NCP will soon nominate two leaders each.

The Congress has renominated Pradnya Satav when there were strong speculations that senior leader Arif Naseem Khan and another sitting MLC Wajahat Mirza were the frontrunners for the opportunity. The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) have decided to support Peasants and Workers Party leader Jayant Patil, one of the 11 members retiring later this month.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP is likely to field Rajesh Vitekar and Shivajirao Garje. Vitekar unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha 2019 from Parbhani constituency as an undivided NCP candidate. During the split in the party, he chose to side with Ajit. Garje is the party’s general secretary and is considered a close aide of Ajit.

The ruling and opposition alliances are in favour of electing 11 seats unopposed to avoid horse-trading and cross-voting ahead of the assembly polls. According to an NCP (SP) leader, the opposition alliance is not likely to field a third candidate.