SHIV SENA ROARS ITS DISCONTENT OVER RAJYA SABHA POLLS

Mumbai: The Congress party may face difficulty in getting both its proposed candidates—Bhai Jagtap and Chandrakant Handore—elected in the June 20 election of six Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) seats in the state’s upper house of legislature. This is a possibility as the Shiv Sena suffered its first political loss to the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday.

The Sena blames its MVA alliance partners Nationalist Congress Party and Congress of having forsaken its second candidate Sanjay Pawar, despite having committed nine and two additional MLA votes.

The Sena is expected to return the favour in an apparent political quid pro quo to dent Congress’ second MLC candidate Chandrakant Handore’s prospects.

The main ruling party in Maharashtra also blames NCP chief Sharad Pawar for not employing any special strategy to ensure the victory of any other candidate other than his own candidate Praful Patel. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra after receiving 43 votes, along with the first preference candidates of the Congress and Shiv Sena.

According to an MVA leader, who preferred anonymity fearing blowback on career, “Sharad Pawar is constantly kowtowing to the Bharatiya Janata Party and was mostly silent in the run up to the Rajya Sabha polls. He has been adversely detrimental to Shiv Sena’s politics by being a dormant partner in the MVA alliance at crucial times.”

The Congress is obviously worried about its Vidhan Parishad prospects in Maharashtra’s upper house in the state legislature considering the Sena’s posturing.

Meanwhile, the BJP is only too happy to try and exploit the prospect of attracting votes of disgruntled MLCs in the June 20 elections of the Legislative Council. It has nominated five candidates and backed one Independent candidate Sadabhau Khot, even as it only boasts of the requisite strength to vote for four MLCs of the BJP.

Whether the upcoming polls will be a second major political win in Maharashtra for the BJP or not, only time will tell. But the opposition party plans to wait till the final day of candidature withdrawal on June 13, before announcing its next move.