The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced biennial elections for 10 Elected by Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assemblies (EMLA) seats as the term in the Upper House of 10 MLCs from the EMLA constituency is slated to end on July 7. ECI has also announced biennial elections for six Rajya Sabha seats as the term of these members is scheduled to end on July 4.
The MLC election will be held on June 10, while polls for the Rajya Sabha will be held the day after, on June 11.
The 10 MLCs from EMLA constituency due to retire on July 7 include: Ramraje Nimbalkar, Prakash Binsale and Dhananjay Munde (NCP); Dipti Chavdhari and Muzaffar Hussain (Congress); Shobhatai Fadnavis and Vinayak Mete (BJP); Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote (Shiv Sena); and Vijay Sawant (Independent). Rajya Sabha members due to retire on July 4 include: Minister of State for Coal, Piyush Goyal (BJP); Vijay Darda and Avinash Pandey (Congress); Ishwarlal Jain and Praful Patel (NCP); and Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena).
According to Sena insiders, Mr Raut will continue for another term. Whereas BJP spokesperson, Atul Shah, said that Mr Goyal, being a minister, will be the natural candidate of the party. Both Congress and NCP leaders were not ready to speak on record. However, a Congress source said that Mr Pandey would be replaced, while Mr Darda would probably continue for another term. An NCP source said that Mr Jain would be replaced, whereas Mr Patel would continue for another term. Candidates need a minimum of 42 votes to win the election.
Meanwhile, the poll scene in Thane Local Authorities constituency has started heating up, what with BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Bhiwandi in Thane district,
Kapil Patil, issuing a warning to Sena that BJP might consider fielding its own candidate if the Sena pitches a weak candidate against NCP’s Vasant Davkhare. The threat stems from the fact that Mr Davkhare, till now, has won three times.
As per the ECI’s voter data, there are a total 1,040 electors (corporators) in civic bodies in both Thane and Palghar districts. In Thane district alone, there are 10 local bodies with a total 793 electors whereas in Palghar district, there are five local bodies with a total 247 electors. Of these, the Sena-BJP combine has 491 votes while the NCP-Congress-BVA combine has a vote bank of 421 votes, implying that it will be an uphill task for Mr Davkhare to retain his seat. Although there are four to five aspirants in Shiv Sena, Ravindra Phatak is the most probable candidate who will contest against Mr Davkhare in MLC election from Thane Local Body constituency.
Shiv Sena leader and guardian minister for Thane, Eknath Shinde, meanwhile said that Sena chief, Uddhav Thackeray, would take a decision on the party candidate to be fielded against NCP’s Mr Davkhare. According to party insider, Harishchandra Patil, probable candidates for the Sena include Ravi Phatak, Gopal Landge and Sunil Choudhari. For Thane local body polls, Tuesday, May 17, is the last day for filing nominations.
Sources said BJP is likely to contest five seats out of 10 EMLA constituency vacancies, instead of the two it currently holds. The BJP is likely to nominate candidates from its Mahayuti allies, including Avinash Mahatekar (RPI-A) and Sadabhau Khot (Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana) if they are to be eventually inducted into the state cabinet. The Sena has no other option but to re-nominate its sitting senior ministers, Subhash Desai (Industries) and Diwakar Raote (Public Transport).
