Maharashtra polls: Mahayuti, MVA rocked by rebels, scramble to fix uncertainty
Both the alliances – the ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – witnessed rebellion in at least a dozen constituencies each
MUMBAI: Amid the fierce tussles owing to multiple alliances and parties in the fray, the last day of filing of nominations for the assembly elections in Maharashtra registered rebellion from candidates across parties and in both coalitions. While some contests were potential friendly fights, in other constituencies, candidates filed their nominations defying their parties’ diktats.
Both the alliances – the ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – witnessed rebellion in at least a dozen constituencies each. In an unprecedented phenomenon, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw senior leaders rebelling, such as Gopal Shetty (Borivali), Atul Shah (Mumbadevi) and Geeta Jain (Mira-Bhayandar), while its ally, the Shiv Sena, has rebels in over six constituencies.
The Sena’s Vaibhav Bharadkar filed his nomination from Dindoshi against the official candidate, Sanjay Nirupam; Swikruti Sharma, who was keen to contest from the Sena, filed her papers from Andheri East. BJP leader Narenda Pawar filed his nomination from Kalyan West against the Mahayuti’s official candidate Vishwanath Bhoir of the Shiv Sena. In adjoining Kalyan East, the Sena’s city chief Mahesh Gaikwad filed his papers as an Independent against the BJP candidate Sulabha Gaikwad. Sameer Bhujbal of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) filed his nomination in Nandgaon in Nashik district against the Sena’s Suhas Kande.
Also, both the alliances have two allies fielding candidates in half a dozen constituencies each.
In Mahayuti, Devendra Bhuyar of the NCP and the BJP’s Umesh Yavalkar have filed their nominations from Morshi. In Ashti, Suresh Dhas has filed nomination as a BJP candidate against NCP’s Balasaheb Aajbe. In Dindori in Nashik, sitting NCP MLA Narhari Zirwal is facing Dhanraj Mahale of Shiv Sena. In Shrirampur in Ahmednagar, Lahu Kanade of NCP has filed nomination against Bhausaheb Kamble of Shiv Sena..
In Anushakti Nagar in Central Mumbai, the Sena’s Avinash Rane filed his nomination against NCP candidate Sana Malik. Her father Nawab Malik has filed his nomination as the NCP candidate from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, despite opposition to his nomination by the BJP. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “I do not have official information on this. Our spokesperson will comment on it once the official information is received.”
In the same constituency, MVA allies, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have candidates who have filed their nominations against the Samajwadi Party’s sitting MLA Abu Asim Azmi. In Kurla, Pravina Morajkar of Shiv Sena (UBT) is facing rebellion from Milind Kable of NCP (SP), while in Pandharpur, Bhagirath Bhalke of Congress will face a challenge from NCP (SP)’s Anil Sawant. In Solapur South, Shiv Sena (UBT) has pitted Amar Patil against Dilip Mane of Congress. NCP (SP)’s Rahul Mote in Paranda is facing a challenge from Ranjit Patil of Shiv Sena (UBT).
Neither alliance, owing to a lack of consensus on seat-sharing, has been able to officially announce all their candidates for the 288 seats in the assembly. The three parties in the Mahayuti coalition (BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP) have together released 283 names, while the MVA constituents (Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP) have been able to officially declare only 280 candidates, though parties have given AB form to their many candidates instead of announcing the names officially.
The BJP, contrary to its organisational culture, has been facing rebellion in Mumbai and elsewhere in the state. Party insiders say that such open rebellion has not been witnessed in the party in at least a decade. Recently, the party’s Navi Mumbai leader and former MLA Sandeep Naik rebelled against the nomination of party candidate Manda Mhatre from the Belapur constituency.
Gopal Shetty’s rebellion is seen as a major challenge for the BJP as he enjoys plenty of clout in Borivali, where he has served multiple terms as corporator, MLA and MP. Shetty, on his way to filing his nomination, said, “There is no question of backtracking. I am not going to join any other party and have not given up the dialogue with the party leadership. I had invited Sanjay Upadhyay (the BJP’s nominee from the constituency) to join me in filing the nomination. My nomination as an Independent is the wish of our party workers and voters in the constituency as they disprove of an outsider as their candidate,” he said. Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar called on Shetty late on Monday evening to persuade him to change his mind.
Similarly, in Mumbadevi, Atul Shah said party workers and local voters did not want an ‘outsider’ to be their candidate. The BJP’s ally, the Shiv Sena has fielded Shaina NC from the constituency in South Mumbai. She switched from the BJP to the Sena to be able to contest. “I have worked hard for the area as a corporator and MLA in the past, despite which the party has chosen someone who has nothing to do with Mumbadevi. The party did not take me into confidence before announcing the candidacy,” he said.
In the MVA, too, rebellion has posed a challenge for the parties. In Dharavi, Sena (UBT) leader Baburao Mane has filed his nomination as an Independent against the Congress’s Jyoti Gaikwad.