Mumbai, facing the threat of a cross-vote, political parties in Maharashtra have shifted their MLAs to hotels and are holding last-minute strategy meetings ahead of Friday's biennial elections for 11 Legislative Council seats for which 12 candidates are in the fray .
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), who form the electoral college for the polls, will meet at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai, where voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. m. to 4 p.m. m. The counting of votes will begin at 5:00 p.m.
Eleven members of the upper house of the state legislature will retire on July 27 and these high-stakes elections will be held to fill the vacancies. To keep their MLAs united, political parties are organizing dinners and hotel stays before the municipal elections, which will be held barely three months before the assembly elections in the state.
Leader of opposition in the assembly, Congress's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituent Vijay Wadettiwar, hosted a dinner for MLAs of his party at a hotel in the city on Thursday night.
The Congress has issued a whip to its MLAs asking them to vote as per the party directive. As per the directive issued by Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, it is mandatory for all party MLAs to vote for MVA candidates. Necessary instructions regarding the voting process will be given to Congress MLAs before voting to begin at 9 am, according to the party directive.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, also a member of the opposition MVA bloc, held a dinner with his MLA at a five-star hotel in central Mumbai on Wednesday night.
Eleven Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs attended the dinner and stayed at the hotel. They were joined by the four remaining legislators on Thursday, a party leader said. Thackeray, an MLC, told the MLAs that they have remained loyal to him and that he does not need to tell them what they should do during the vote, party leaders said.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, moved its MLAs to a five-star hotel near the airport in suburban Mumbai. Members of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena assembly gathered at the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Wednesday morning for a meeting and then moved to a five-star hotel in Bandra.
A meeting of the BJP legislative party took place at the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Wednesday night and from there, the saffron MLAs were taken to a five-star hotel. The BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP are part of the coalition Mahayuti ruler.
The MVA member NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) has expressed confidence in the loyalty of its MLAs and has not joined other parties in shifting them to hotels.
Jayant Patil, president of the Maharashtra NCP (SP), emphasized: "We have full faith in our MLAs and do not feel the need to keep them in five-star hotels." Eleven MLCs: Shiv Sena's Manisha Kayande and Anil Parab, Pradyna Satav and Wajahat Mirza of Congress, Abdullah Durrani of NCP, Vijay Girkar, Nilay Naik, Ramesh Patil, Ramrao Patil of BJP, Mahadev Jankar and Peasants of Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP). and Jayant Patil of the Workers' Party (PWP), will complete their six-year term on July 27.
The 288-member legislative assembly is the electoral college for the polls and its current number is 274.
Each winning candidate would need a quota of 23 first preference votes. The BJP is the largest party in the assembly with 103 members, followed by Shiv Sena (38), NCP (42), Congress (37), Shiv Sena (UBT) 15 and NCP (SP) 10.
Other parties with a presence in the lower house are Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (3), Samajwadi Party (2), AIMIM (2), Prahar Janshakti Party (2), MNS, CPI(M), Swabhimani Paksh, Jansurajya Shakti Party, RSP, Krantikari Shetkari Paksh and PWP (one each). Additionally, there are 13 independent MLAs.
The BJP has fielded five candidates: Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe Sadabhau Khot, and its ally Shiv Sena, two: former Lok Sabha MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhavana Gawali.The NCP has given tickets to Shivajirao Garje. and Rajesh Vitekar, while the Congress has re-nominated Pradnya Satav for another term.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has summoned Milind Narvekar, a close aide of party president Thackeray.
The NCP (SP) has not fielded its candidate and has instead extended its support to Jayant Patil of the PWP. Only the Congress has excess votes as it has fielded only one candidate.
Fear of cross-voting is prevalent in both the ruling Mahayuti bloc and the opposition MVA.
Last week, Thackeray expressed confidence that all three candidates of the opposition MVA will emerge victorious in the municipal elections. When it was pointed out that the opposition bloc does not have the numbers in the assembly to ensure the victory of its third candidate, the former first Minister commented: "We would not have done it (present the third candidate) if we had not trusted (in victorious)."
The MVA does not have numbers on its side to elect the third candidate, but is confident that some MLAs from the NCP and Shiv Sena, both Mahayuti constituents, will vote in its favour.
In recent days, the NCP (SP) has claimed that some MLAs from the rival camp led by Ajit Pawar are in touch with the opposition party for a possible comeback.
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), who form the electoral college for the polls, will meet at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai, where voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. m. to 4 p.m. m. The counting of votes will begin at 5:00 p.m.
Eleven members of the upper house of the state legislature will retire on July 27 and these high-stakes elections will be held to fill the vacancies. To keep their MLAs united, political parties are organizing dinners and hotel stays before the municipal elections, which will be held barely three months before the assembly elections in the state.
Leader of opposition in the assembly, Congress's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituent Vijay Wadettiwar, hosted a dinner for MLAs of his party at a hotel in the city on Thursday night.
The Congress has issued a whip to its MLAs asking them to vote as per the party directive. As per the directive issued by Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, it is mandatory for all party MLAs to vote for MVA candidates. Necessary instructions regarding the voting process will be given to Congress MLAs before voting to begin at 9 am, according to the party directive.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, also a member of the opposition MVA bloc, held a dinner with his MLA at a five-star hotel in central Mumbai on Wednesday night.
Eleven Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs attended the dinner and stayed at the hotel. They were joined by the four remaining legislators on Thursday, a party leader said. Thackeray, an MLC, told the MLAs that they have remained loyal to him and that he does not need to tell them what they should do during the vote, party leaders said.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, moved its MLAs to a five-star hotel near the airport in suburban Mumbai. Members of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena assembly gathered at the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Wednesday morning for a meeting and then moved to a five-star hotel in Bandra.
A meeting of the BJP legislative party took place at the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Wednesday night and from there, the saffron MLAs were taken to a five-star hotel. The BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP are part of the coalition Mahayuti ruler.
The MVA member NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) has expressed confidence in the loyalty of its MLAs and has not joined other parties in shifting them to hotels.
Jayant Patil, president of the Maharashtra NCP (SP), emphasized: "We have full faith in our MLAs and do not feel the need to keep them in five-star hotels." Eleven MLCs: Shiv Sena's Manisha Kayande and Anil Parab, Pradyna Satav and Wajahat Mirza of Congress, Abdullah Durrani of NCP, Vijay Girkar, Nilay Naik, Ramesh Patil, Ramrao Patil of BJP, Mahadev Jankar and Peasants of Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP). and Jayant Patil of the Workers' Party (PWP), will complete their six-year term on July 27.
The 288-member legislative assembly is the electoral college for the polls and its current number is 274.
Each winning candidate would need a quota of 23 first preference votes. The BJP is the largest party in the assembly with 103 members, followed by Shiv Sena (38), NCP (42), Congress (37), Shiv Sena (UBT) 15 and NCP (SP) 10.
Other parties with a presence in the lower house are Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (3), Samajwadi Party (2), AIMIM (2), Prahar Janshakti Party (2), MNS, CPI(M), Swabhimani Paksh, Jansurajya Shakti Party, RSP, Krantikari Shetkari Paksh and PWP (one each). Additionally, there are 13 independent MLAs.
The BJP has fielded five candidates: Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe Sadabhau Khot, and its ally Shiv Sena, two: former Lok Sabha MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhavana Gawali.The NCP has given tickets to Shivajirao Garje. and Rajesh Vitekar, while the Congress has re-nominated Pradnya Satav for another term.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has summoned Milind Narvekar, a close aide of party president Thackeray.
The NCP (SP) has not fielded its candidate and has instead extended its support to Jayant Patil of the PWP. Only the Congress has excess votes as it has fielded only one candidate.
Fear of cross-voting is prevalent in both the ruling Mahayuti bloc and the opposition MVA.
Last week, Thackeray expressed confidence that all three candidates of the opposition MVA will emerge victorious in the municipal elections. When it was pointed out that the opposition bloc does not have the numbers in the assembly to ensure the victory of its third candidate, the former first Minister commented: "We would not have done it (present the third candidate) if we had not trusted (in victorious)."
The MVA does not have numbers on its side to elect the third candidate, but is confident that some MLAs from the NCP and Shiv Sena, both Mahayuti constituents, will vote in its favour.
In recent days, the NCP (SP) has claimed that some MLAs from the rival camp led by Ajit Pawar are in touch with the opposition party for a possible comeback.
