Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) faces tussle over MLC polls

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed Thackeray had selected a candidate finalised by Congress for the Nashik Teachers' constituency without consulting coalition partners.

Mumbai: After the tug-of-war within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-I.N.D.I.A) over the Lok Sabha seat of Sangli, the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) are now in a state of one-upmanship in the ensuing elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Congress is dissatisfied over the Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded candidates from the Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers' constituencies.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said that they tried to reach out to Thackeray. However, he could not be contacted. “Congress is thinking of contesting the four seats of the Council together as the MVA. We tried to speak with Uddhav Thackeray in this regard, but he could not be reached,” he said.

“Congress party has announced its decision to contest the Konkan and Nashik graduate seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has also announced candidates for Konkan, Nashik and Mumbai constituencies. The Congress is trying to ensure that the MVA can get good success in these elections too like the Lok Sabha if the decision to contest the Legislative Council elections is taken together,” he said, adding "We tried to contact Uddhav Thackeray, but he was abroad and couldn't be reached. We tried to connect at Matoshree today but we were not able to connect as well.”

In the Lok Sabha polls, Thackeray had fielded Chandrahar Patil, a wrestler from Sangli. This prompted Congress leader Vishal Patil to contest as an independent against Chandrahar Patil and BJP’s sitting MP Sanjaykaka Patil. However, Vishal Patil won the polls in the triangular contest.