Mumbai: With the entry of Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray’s 'Man Friday' Milind Narvekar the elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council have taken a new turn and the polls are up for a fierce fight with the contest wide open for the Maha Yuti (NDA) and Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.DI.A.).
Narvekar is the PA and the close aide of Thackeray, a former Chief Minister.
The elections to 11 seats would be held on July 12.
These elections are happening in the run up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections expected around October 2024.
For the 11 vacancies, a total of 12 candidates are in the fray, as the nominations drew to a close on Tuesday.
From the MY-NDA, there are nine candidates in fray.
The candidates of the BJP are former minister and veteran OBC leader Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, the President of Bharatiya Janata Party OBC Morcha, Dr Parinay Phuke, a former minister, Amit Gorkhe, former Chairman of the Lokshahir Anna Bhau Sathe Development Corporation and Sadabhau Khot, a veteran farmers leader and President of Rayat Kranti Sanghatana, who is an ally of BJP.
BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who calls the shots in Maharashtra, has carefully chosen candidates based on the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls.
The Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar.
From the MVA-I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc, three candidates are in fray.
The Congress has renominated Dr Pradnya Satav, the wife of late Congress leader Rajeev Satav, who was close to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has decided to give support to Jayant Patil, the President of Peasants' and Workers' Party of India (PWP).
From Shiv Sena (UBT), Narvekar is in the race.
Among the 11 MLCs who are retiring on 27 July, 2024, three are from BJP - Vijay Girkar, Nilay Naik and Ramesh Patil - two from Congress - Dr Wajahat Mirza and Dr Pradnya Satav - one from Shiv Sena - Dr Manisha Kayande, one from Shiv Sena (UBT) - Anil Parab, one from NCP Abdullah Khan Durrani, one from Rashtriya Samaj Paksha - Mahadev Jankar and one from Peasants’ from Workers’ Party of India - Jayant Patil.
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, which is the electoral college, has 288 seats.
However, the current strength of the House is 274.
As per the formula, every MLC seat will need a quota of 23 votes.
The MVA has the support of 63 MLAs, and is short of at least six votes to get all the three candidates elected while the ruling Maha Yuti has 200-plus seats.