No clarity yet on sharing of seats in Mahayuti, MVA

Dramatic scenes were witnessed on the last day of filing nominations; BJP opposes NCP’s Mumbai candidate; Congress says no ‘friendly fights’ in MVA; clear picture expected only after Deepavali

Maharashtra witnessed dramatic scenes on the last day to file nominations for the Assembly election, with confusion in both the ruling and Opposition alliances regarding their exact formulas for seat-sharing. For both the Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi, full clarity is only likely to arrive after Deepavali when the deadline to withdraw nominations arrives on November 4.

While a Pawar vs Pawar battle unfolded in Baramati where Sharad Pawar and his nephew are engaged in a war of words, drama was seen in Mumbai too when the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik filed his nomination papers despite heavy opposition from his supposed ally, the BJP. The BJP later issued a statement saying it would not canvas for a leader who allegedly has links with the gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

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Several high profile candidates filed their nominations on Tuesday (October 29, 2024), including Milind Deora, Shaina N.C., and Amin Patel.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer said that 10,905 nomination papers of 7,995 candidates had been received till Tuesday for the elections in 288 constituencies of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The Model Code of Conduct came into force on October 15. Applications would be scrutinised on Wednesday, while candidates would have time till November 4 to withdraw nomination. Voting would be held on November 20 and counting of votes would take place on November 23.

The Congress, BJP and NCP-SP each released an official list of candidates on the last day. The Congress list included 103 candidates, the BJP declared a list of 148 candidates from the party as well as from four smaller allies, and the NCP-SP put out a list of 87 candidates. Though the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena also issued lists, they gave nomination forms to candidates who were not mentioned in their lists, taking their tally of fielded candidates beyond the official list. Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of the Sena did not issue any official list of candidates, but top sources in the party said that 96 candidates had been fielded.

Fighting friends

On the last day of nominations, both the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi were found to have fielded candidates against each other, giving rise to the possibility of friendly fights. But the MVA was quick to say that it will not let friendly fights happen in the State. Ramesh Chennithala, Maharashtra in-charge for the Congress, told The Hindu, “There will be no friendly fight in Maharashtra. We are asking our party workers to withdraw their candidatures from places where the alliance partners have fielded their candidates. In Mumbai, we [the Congress] will fight in 11 seats. The atmosphere is peaceful. Congress will fight in 103 seats [in the State]. Our goal is that we have to get rid of the corrupt government.”

But the ruling Mahayuti could not achieve consensus on a few seats. “There will be friendly fights in four seats. Wherever we could not achieve consensus, we have decided we will not fight over those seats,” Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters.

For example, in Mumbai, the Mahayuti fielded candidates against each other in the Mankhurd Shivajinagar and Anushaktinagar seats. While Mr. Ajit Pawar gave nomination forms to MLA Nawab Malik and his daughter Sana Malik, the Shiv Sena also fielded candidates in the same constituencies as Mahayuti candidates. When asked about whether the Mahayuti supported her candidature, Ms. Malik told reporters, “We will seek votes on the basis of our work. We are with Dada [Ajit Pawar] and the people are with us.”

The BJP, however, issued a statement against Mr. Malik. “We will not canvas for a candidate who has links with gangster Dawood Ibrahim,” Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar told reporters.

Family battle

The war of words between Mr. Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar turned personal on Tuesday. After Mr. Ajit Pawar got emotional, accusing his uncle of breaking the family, Mr. Sharad Pawar imitated him on stage, adding that he had to climb the steps of the court because of a Pawar. “I am the elderly person in the family. There is no reason for me to break the house. For all these years, I have never gone against the wishes of my family, and will never do so in the future as well. Whatever happens, but I will never walk on the wrong path,” the senior Mr. Sharad Pawar said at the opening rally of Yugendra Pawar’s campaigning in Baramati on Tuesday.

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Reminding Mr. Ajit Pawar of his own early morning swearing-in ceremony, he said that some people had gone to court claiming ownership of the party that he had founded and built up. “Something like this had never happened in my lifetime,” he said.

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Speaking at a rally on Tuesday (October 29, 2024), Mr. Ajit Pawar claimed that his former colleague and ex-Home Minister of Maharashtra, the late R.R. Patil, had signed off on allowing an open inquiry against him. “Devendra Fadnavis showed me the paper with R.R. Patil’s signature. I was taken aback,” he said. NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule retorted by seeking action against Mr. Fadnavis for showing an official file to another political leader.

Published - October 29, 2024 11:49 pm IST