Tug of war within Mahayuti over seats for MLC polls

MUMBAI: The upcoming MLC polls from graduate constituency seats have led to a tug of war within the Mahayuti alliance. A day after the Shiv Sena’s Deepak Sawant said that the Mumbai Graduate constituency seat from the alliance should go to his party, the BJP has responded by saying that its party workers are keen that it contest the seat and that a final decision will be taken by the coordination committee for the alliance.

Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray’s MNS has declared Abhijit Panse as its candidate for the Konkan graduate constituency even though the party had declared its unconditional support for the Mahayuti alliance in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP is set to repeat its sitting MLC Niranjan Davkhare’s candidature for the seat. The MLC polls will be held on June 26th.

When asked about the Shiv Sena’s bid for the Mumbai graduate constituency seat, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said, “BJP workers have done a large number of registrations for the seat and they are keen that our party contest the seat. The decision on behalf of the party will be taken by the core committee. And the decision on behalf of the alliance will be taken by the coordination committee for the alliance.”

Regarding Panse’s candidature from the MNS, BJP sources said that the party was supporting the alliance from the outside and was free to declare its own candidate. “We will welcome the MNS’ support if they decide to support our candidate but they are free to declare their own candidate,” said a senior BJP leader.

The biennial elections to four legislative council seats - Mumbai Graduates, Konkan Graduates, Mumbai Teachers and Nashik Teachers - became necessary as the terms of sitting members are expiring in July.

The BJP has not yet announced its candidates. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has named MLC Anil Parab and party functionary J M Abhyankar as its candidates for the Mumbai Graduates' and Mumbai Teachers' constituencies. The last date for filing the nominations is June 7. Voting will be held on June 26.


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