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The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is once again showing signs of internal division, this time over the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council elections. Voting for nine seats, along with a bypoll for one seat, is scheduled to be held on May 12.

State Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal. Pic/X @INCHarshsapkal

Congress keen on seat

State Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal maintained that if Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was contesting, it would support the candidature, but if not, then it would discuss with its leadership and its allies, a statement which clearly hints that Congress is keen to contest the seat.

May 12
Day Council polls are to be held

Change in equation

Earlier, the MVA had the numbers to secure multiple seats, but after the splits within the Shiv Sena and NCP, the alliance is now in a position to win only one. With Sharad Pawar recently re-elected to the Rajya Sabha, the NCP is not staking a claim to the seat. However, if Thackeray does not contest, the Congress is likely to put forward its candidate. An unopposed election is possible only if Thackeray files his nomination; otherwise, a contest cannot be ruled out, with the Mahayuti keen to exploit divisions in the MVA.

Ten seats

Polling for all 10 Council seats will be held between 9 am and 4 pm, with counting scheduled for the same day, at 5 pm. The election has been necessitated as the term of nine MLCs ends on May 13. While nine seats will be filled through the regular biennial election, a bypoll will also be held for one vacancy following Congress leader Pradnya Satav’s resignation. Satav has now joined the BJP.

Tenures conclude

Apart from Thackeray, eight other retiring MLCs include Council Chairperson Neelam Gorhe (Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena), BJP leaders Sanjay Kenekar, Sandeep Joshi, Dadarao Keche, and Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil, NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) Amol Mitkari, Congress’s Rajesh Rathod, and NCP-SP’s Shashikant Shinde.