Mahayuti’s unity faces a test
Elections to five seats in Maharashtra’s Legislative Council — three graduates’ and two teachers’ constituencies — are set to test Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the cohesion of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, with differences within the BJP and among its three constituents coming to the fore.
The Nagpur graduates’ constituency is particularly significant for the BJP, which has fielded former MLA Sudhakar Kohle against Congress sitting MLC Abhijit Wanjari. The contest has assumed importance for the BJP, which is keen to wrest the seat it lost to the Congress in 2020 after holding it for 58 years as the BJP and its predecessor, the Jana Sangh.
The Nagpur tangle
The party’s decision to field Kohle triggered dissent from former MLA Anil Sole, who announced that he would contest as an Independent. After sustained persuasion by senior BJP leaders, Sole withdrew his candidature and agreed to support the party’s official nominee.
While the BJP managed to avert a direct contest from within its ranks, the episode exposed discontent over candidate selection. Sole, a senior party leader, said the process had changed.
“Unlike in the past, when candidates were selected democratically, now they are decided from the top. We are not even consulted on candidate selection, which is unfortunate,” he said.
Sole, however, withdrew in the party’s interest, a decision acknowledged by Fadnavis. “Anil Sole is a committed and responsible leader. The party values his services,” the CM said.
The BJP leadership has made it clear that it cannot afford another setback in Nagpur. Reclaiming the seat from the Congress, however, remains a challenge, prompting the party to mobilise its entire organisational machinery, including support from the RSS.
In 2020, the BJP’s Sandeep Joshi, a former Nagpur Mayor and then a close confidant of Fadnavis, lost to Wanjari. The defeat was a major embarrassment for the BJP, then in the Opposition, as Nagpur is both the RSS headquarters and the hometown of Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The seat had previously been represented by prominent leaders, including Gadkari and the late Gangadharrao Fadnavis, the CM’s father.
In an effort to prevent a repeat of the 2020 outcome, Fadnavis spent two days in Nagpur holding meetings with current office-bearers and senior party veterans to improve coordination. He also campaigned extensively across the constituency, reaching out to registered graduates and teachers who form the electorate.
Seat-sharing arrangement
The BJP is officially contesting three of the five seats: Nagpur and Pune graduates’ constituencies, and the Pune teachers’ constituency. Its candidates are Kohle in Nagpur, Smita Jadhav in Pune graduates, and Kaustubh Gawde in Pune teachers.
Under the seat-sharing arrangement, the Amravati teachers’ constituency has been allotted to the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduates’ seat has gone to the NCP led by Sunetra Pawar.
However, the arrangement has failed to prevent differences among the allies from spilling into the election campaign. The Shiv Sena has extended support to Independent candidate Chandrakant Sanap in the Pune teachers’ constituency, challenging the BJP’s Gawde.
On Wednesday, the last day of campaigning, Shinde maintained that the alliance would win all five seats. Fadnavis also sought to play down the differences, expressing confidence that the Mahayuti would win all five constituencies comfortably.
How MVA is placed
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP(SP), has also had its share of friction.
In the Amaravati seat, the Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded a candidate while accusing the Congress of “unilaterally declaring its nominee.
The MVA’s candidate selection has also triggered discontent among its ranks with leaders filing nominations as Independents, especially in the Pune seat.
‘Fragile’ ground situation
The ground situation, however, suggests a more complicated contest. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the Sena has also challenged the NCP’s official candidate, Satish Chavan.
Senior Sena leader and former minister Abdul Sattar has announced support for Dr Pratapsingh Patil of the NCP (SP). “The Shiv Sena has always worked against the NCP. Why should we support it now?” he asked.
The BJP, too, has faced rebellion in the Amravati teachers’ constituency, where at least three party office-bearers filed nominations against the Sena’s candidate, Kiran Sarnaik. The BJP subsequently expelled the rebels — Chandrakant Bhoyar, Sangeeta Bonde-Shinde and Sunil Pawar — for six years.
As the MLC elections brought fault lines within the Mahayuti into the open, the state coordination committee, headed by BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule and comprising ministers from the Shiv Sena and the NCP, was set up to address differences within the government and the alliance.
It has, however, failed to ensure coordination among the partners in the Council polls. “Every party believes elections are the best opportunity to reassert its political supremacy. They also use every seat to expand their organisation. As a result, differences are natural,” the functionary said, adding that the BJP, being the largest party in the alliance, was entitled to contest more seats.
Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat, however, argued that the BJP needed to be more accommodating. “The BJP should share power and seats with alliance partners to avoid conflict,” he said.
NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel had earlier expressed displeasure over their party being denied the Pune graduates’ constituency.
The lack of coordination has also been cited as a factor in the ruling alliance’s defeat in the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Gokul. On Wednesday, NCP minister Hassan Mushrif blamed differences within the Mahayuti for the defeat of the ruling parties’ panel against the panel led by Congress MLC Satej Patil.
The elections to the five Council seats will be held on October 23, with counting scheduled for October 27. According to election officials, 182 candidates are in the fray. More than 10.68 lakh registered voters are eligible to vote at 2,419 polling stations.
