BJP caught in a pickle over fielding Narayan Rane

Mumbai: The by-election to the state legislative council seat vacated by former chief minister Narayan Rane after he quit the Congress will be held on December 7, according to the Election Commission. The results will be announced on the same day. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be in a fix whether to give Mr Rane a chance to contest as the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nation Congress Party (NCP) are unlikely to vote for Mr Rane and it would be tough for him to get elected. If Mr Rane does contest this election, it could turn out to be an interesting tussle.

Mr Rane had resigned as a member of legislative council (MLC) before leaving Congress and forming his own party, the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha. He subsequently joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It is expected that the BJP will support Mr Rane in the by poll. In fact, BJP leaders have repeatedly cleared that Mr Rane would be inducted into the state cabinet, ‘in right time.’ Mr Rane has to be a minister within six months of swearing in.

But the BJP’s alliance partner, the Shiv Sena is dead against Mr Rane’s induction. If Mr Rane is given a ticket in the MLC bypoll, he would need the Sena’s support to win. As of now, the assembly has a strength of 288 members, of which the BJP has 122 MLAs, the Sena 63, Congress 42, NCP 41 and others, 20.

Earlier it was proposed by NCP’s Ajit Pawar that if BJP poached any leader from these three parties then, all parties should come together and put up a single candidate against the BJP’s nominee. If this happens, then it would be tough for Mr Rane to win the election with only BJP’s support.

 The Sena, Congress and NCP combine strength is 146, while the BJP’s 122 plus 8 independents only takes it to 130. The BJP needs to poach a minimum of 15 votes from Congress or Sena or NCP to get Mr Rane elected.

Therefore, if the BJP decides to support Mr Rane in this bypoll, it promises to be a tough and interesting contest, bringing out all the equations at play behind the curtains in Maharashtra politics.