BJP, Congress reach consensus, 4 legislative council candidates get elected unopposed

Four of the six seats of the state legislative council to be elected from local body constituencies in five districts have been elected unopposed after Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders decided to avoid the ‘horse trading’ in the polls

Four of the six seats of the state legislative council to be elected from local body constituencies in five districts have been elected unopposed after Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders decided to avoid the ‘horse trading’ in the polls. Nagpur and Akola-Buldhana-Washim constituencies will go for the polls on December 10.

Sunil Rane of Shiv Sena and Rajhans Singh of BJP from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), minister of state and Congress leader Satej Patil from Kolhapur local bodies and BJP leader Amrish Patel from Dhule-Nandurbar have been elected unopposed in legislative council polls. (AFP/ Representational photo)

Sunil Rane of Shiv Sena and Rajhans Singh of BJP from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), minister of state and Congress leader Satej Patil from Kolhapur local bodies and BJP leader Amrish Patel from Dhule-Nandurbar have been elected unopposed. Nagpur seat will see a fight between the former minister and BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Congress’s Ravindra Bhoyar. Bhoyar switched to Congress last week after BJP denied him the ticket and fielded Bawankule. Sena’s sitting member of legislative council (MLC) Gopikishan Bajoria is pitted against BJP’s Vasant Khandelwal in the Akola-Buldhana-Washim constituency.

State leaders from BJP and Congress held a round of meetings last week in Mumbai to avoid the elections which induce ‘horse trading and bad blood’ in the elections. The two parties arrived at the consensus to withdraw their candidates in Dhule-Nandurbar, Mumbai and Kolhapur. Congress leader Suresh Koparkar withdrew his nomination from Mumbai, while BJP candidate Amal Mahadik withdrew from Kolhapur. Congress’s Gaurav Wani withdrew the nomination from the Dhule-Nandurbar constituency. Congress and BJP candidates were in a comfortable winning position in Kolhapur and Dhule-Nandurbar respectively.

“Congress thinks they can defeat us in Nagpur, but Bawankule will emerge victorious without any hassle,” said the leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis.

Amal Mahadik said that he was withdrawing his nomination as directed by the state leadership of the BJP. Satej Patil said that the decision of amicable understanding in two constituencies was taken at the state level.