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MVA starts preparing for state assembly polls
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday announced the candidature of Abhijit Patil, chairman of Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill, from the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat
While the state assembly polls are still a year-and-a-half away, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have already started preparing for them. After Uddhav Thackeray during his April public rally indicated that BJP import, Advay Hirey, will contest against Dada Bhuse from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Malegaon, Nashik, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday announced the candidature of Abhijit Patil, chairman of Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill, from the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat.
Fielding Patil as the NCP (MVA) candidate for the state assembly polls, Pawar said that when the locals have accepted his leadership, it is the party’s responsibility to stand behind such a leader. “I feel that the Pandharpur tehsil has been politically orphaned and Patil has all the courage to change that. I must tell you that whenever the polls come close, MVA’s most popular election candidate will be Patil,” Pawar said while addressing local farmers and members of the Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill.
Patil - a young politician who joined the NCP during the Sunday programme attended by Pawar – has emerged a strong leader recently after he won the cooperative elections to take control of the sugar mill. With Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill, Patil now controls five sugar mills in the region that was once dominated by the NCP.
Two years ago in May 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Samadhan Autade had defeated NCP’s Bhagirath Bhalke in closely contested by-polls to the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat. Earlier represented by NCP’s Bharat Bhalke, the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat had fallen vacant after his demise due to post-Covid complications, necessitating by-polls there.
In a similar vein, the Shiv Sena (UBT) earlier in April had admitted into its fold Sanjay Kadam – formerly an NCP MLA from Khed, Ratnagiri – indicating that he would be fielded against Yogesh Kadam, sitting MLA who defected to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. For the Shiv Sena (UBT), the lead-up to the state assembly polls will involve searching for 40 candidates to defeat the MLAs who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray (when he was chief of the erstwhile Shiv Sena) and joined Eknath Shinde to split the party and pull down the former Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, according to political observers.
Chitra Lele, professor, Political Science, SNDT College, said, “There is uncertainty in the political field with the Supreme Court (SC) yet to give its ruling. If the ruling goes against Eknath Shinde, it may affect the stability of the current government and in that case, elections can be hastened in Maharashtra.”
Both the NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) have started identifying candidates in constituencies where there are fewer aspirants and it is clear which party will lay claim over the seat during the seat-sharing arrangements. In places where there are many strong aspirants, the MVA will not announce the names of candidates in advance to prevent defections, Lele noted.
