Mahayuti vs MVA battle resumes for four legislative council seats

The ruling and opposition alliances are both taking the first election after the Lok Sabha results very seriously. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena, and Shikshak Bharati, a teachers’ association, each hold one of the four seats

Mumbai: Less than a month after the Lok Sabha election results, the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will lock horns again for four seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC), for which elections will be held on Wednesday. A close fight is expected in the Mumbai Graduates, Mumbai Teachers, Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers constituencies.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde speaks during a campaign meeting of Mahayuti candidate Kishor Darade from Nashik Teachers constituency for the Maharashtra legislative council election on Saturday, June 22. (PTI)

The election has gained significance as the ruling alliance, which suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha elections, would be keen to prove it still has the people’s support. The Mahayuti won only 17 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. A favourable result in the MLC elections would stand it in good stead ahead of the assembly elections in September-October this year.

The ruling and opposition alliances are both taking the first election after the Lok Sabha results very seriously. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena, and Shikshak Bharati, a teachers’ association, each hold one of the four seats. Chief minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray have both campaigned for their candidates in the two Mumbai constituencies.

The election for the Mumbai graduates’ constituency has attracted the most attention, as Thackeray’s close aide, Anil Parab, is in the fray. He is pitted against the BJP’s Kiran Shelar. Parab is currently a member of the MLC and was elected by members of the legislative assembly in 2018, before the Shiv Sena split in 2022.

Following the split, the Thackeray faction does not have enough numbers in the assembly to get Parab re-elected. That’s why Parab opted for the Mumbai graduates’ constituency, in which enrolled graduate voters will vote to elect their representative to the legislative council.

In the Konkan graduates’ constituency, the incumbent legislator, Niranjan Davkhare, has been renominated by the BJP, while the Congress has fielded Ramesh Keer. The BJP is hopeful of winning the seat as it has a significant number of enrolled voters from its support base. The election to two seats where teachers would be voting for their representatives is also likely to see a keen contest.

In the Mumbai teachers’ constituency, Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded former bureaucrat JM Abhyankar, while BJP has supported Shivnath Darade. The incumbent legislator from this constituency, Kapil Patil, has decided not to contest after getting elected for three terms in a row. His outfit, Shikshak Bharti, has fielded its working president, Subhash More.

In the Nashik teachers’ constituency, there is likely to be a triangular fight. Shiv Sena (UBT) has fieled Sandeep Gulve, while the Shiv Sena has renominated Kishor Darade, who deserted Thackeray following Eknath Shinde’s rebellion in 2022. The Mahayuti faces rebellion here as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has fielded its candidate Mahendra Bhavsar, while Vivek Kolhe, a BJP rebel, too is in the fray.

The BJP, which has entrusted its Mumbai president Ashish Shelar with ensuring victory for its candidates, is aiming to win three of the four seats, according to a senior party leader. “While we can win Konkan easily, there will be a close contest for two seats in Mumbai. The only constituency where we have not managed to ensure one candidate of the Mahayuti is Nashik. Winning most of the seats in this election would help us counter the narrative being spread by MVA that we are losing in Maharashtra,” the leader said.