Mumbai: Unlike the Lok Sabha elections, the Assembly election in Maharashtra is not going to be a two way fight between BJP-led Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aggadi. Leaders like Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, Bacchu Kadu and Raju Shetti have started exploring the possibility of the third front. They are also trying to rope in Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange in the third front. Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) will be affected more by the emergence of a strong third alliance in the state.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, who is a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, confirmed that he has approached Jarange urging him to join the proposed third front in the state. “I have a good rapport with Jarange. I told him that henceforth we should fight to defeat someone, but we should fight to win ourselves,” he said.
Amidst the reports that Sambhajiraje, Kadu and Shetti have initiated the efforts for the third front, the three leaders on Monday conducted joint inspection of heavy rain affected areas in Parbhani. Prahar Sanghatana chief Kadu was a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government. Shetti, former Lok Sabha MP, is the founder of farmers’ organisation Swabhimani Paksha.
Denying that their Parbhani visit was a political initiative, Sambhajiraje said, “Today we have come only to wipe tears of our farmers. We will not make any political comment. But this government has to address issues of distressed farmers,” he said.
Recognising that the third front will hamper chances of the MVA, NCP founder Sharad Pawar is trying to expand the opposition by accommodating smaller parties. “Our leader has suggested to Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders that we should give few Assembly seats to left parties and other parties, which did not contest Lok Sabha elections and worked for the MVA. Parties like Samajwadi Party and Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) helped us win Lok Sabha seats. We should demonstrate the same unity in the Assembly elections if we want to defeat BJP and its allies. For that every party must make few compromises,” a senior NCP (SP) leader said.
However, there are indications that Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar will also contest the election separately. Ambedkar has clarified that he will not join any alliance that includes Jarange.
AIMIM has announced its five candidates including party’s former Lok Sabha MP Imtiyaz Jaleel. Addressing a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also announced the names of legislators Mufti Ismail and Shah Faruk Anwar as well as Farooq Shabdi and Raees Lashkariya as candidates of his party. Ismail is a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Malegaon Central seat, while Anwar is a legislator from Dhule city. Lashkariya is the party’s Mumbai unit chief.
