The ruling Mahayoti Alliance achieved a major victory in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, winning 16 of the 17 seats whose results were announced on Monday.
Polling for 17 seats was held on 18 June, although six Mahayoti candidates had already been elected unopposed before the vote, giving the alliance an early advantage. The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the biggest winner with 11 seats, while the Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Prime Minister Eknath Shinde, won three seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party, led by Deputy Prime Minister Ajit Pawar, won two seats.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) failed to open its account in the elections. The MLC result comes at a time when the Uddhav Sena is already reeling from a revolt by Lok Sabha MPs.
Read also: Shiv Sena crisis UBT LIVE: Rebel MPs to join Shinde Sena, pressure soon; Aditya Thackeray mocks ‘cowards’.
Who are the winning candidates?
Those elected unopposed include Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Phatak (Thane) and Dushyant Chaturvedi (Yavatmal), NCP’s Aniket Tatkare (Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindudurg) and NCP’s Vikram Kakade (Pune), Arun Lakhani (Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli) and Prajakt Tanpuri (Ahiliyanagar). From the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The winning BJP candidates include: Suhas Shirshat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna), Avinash Brahmankar (Bhandara-Gondia), Dhirashil Kadam (Sangli-Satara), Rajendra Raut (Solapur), Basavaraj Patel (Dharashiv-Latur-Beed), Rajiv Potdar (Nagpur), Nandkishore Mahajan (Jalgaon), Praveen Butt. (Amravati) and Amar Rajurkar (Nanded). Shiv Sena candidate Syed Khan won from Parbhani-Hingoli constituency.
The only seat not won by an official Mahayoti candidate was Nashik, where independent candidate and BJP rebel Gokul Jeet defeated Shiv Sena candidate Narendra Darade.
Nashik win by BJP rebels fuels opposition attack
According to a report in The Hindu, Nashik has witnessed a long tussle over seat sharing within the ruling alliance. Gait had submitted his candidacy as an independent after disagreements over the nomination. Although he later announced that he would not campaign for the election after interventions by BJP and Shiv Sena leaders, his name remained on the ballot as the deadline for withdrawal of nominations passed.
After his victory, Gait said he had fulfilled his commitment to stop campaigning, but gave credit to his supporters for the result. He also said that he would consult his party workers before taking any decision on a possible bid to join the Shiv Sena, The Hindu reported.
The result sparked sharp reactions from opposition leaders. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed that the BJP effectively defeated the Shiv Sena candidate in Nashik. Congress leader Satij “Bunty” Patel warned that the BJP was seeking to weaken its allies, pointing to Jalgaon, where the Shiv Sena stepped aside in favor of the BJP candidate.
Local Shiv Sena leaders expressed their displeasure, saying their candidate could have won had the party contested the seat, The Hindu reported.
Reacting to the result, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said: “It is so funny that I cannot speak. This is just a trailer,” The Hindu reported.
MVA drawing is blank
The elections proved to be disappointing for the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which failed to win a single seat.
Meanwhile, Opposition Maharashtra Legislative Council leader and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Dhanvi said the opposition fought the elections to protect the Constitution.
(With inputs from Annie)
