Nagpur graduates’ constituency, long held by the Congress, is a prestigious seat for CM Devendra Fadnavis
Mumbai: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced biennial elections to five seats in the 78-member Maharashtra Legislative Council on Oct 23. In the Amravati teachers’ constituency, independent MLC Kiran Sarnaik has joined Shinde Sena and has announced that he will contest the election on the Shinde Sena ticket. He has already announced that he will contest the election from this constituency for the BJP.
Party functionaries said those candidates who are interested in the elections have already worked to register voters. Political observers said NCP is trying to get Pratap Mane from Kolhapur to fight this poll. There is also a large number of aspirants for Pune teachers’ constituency,” an observer said.
The seats going to the polls comprise three graduates’ constituencies — Aurangabad division, Pune division, and Nagpur division — and two teachers’ constituencies — Amravati division and Pune division. However, all eyes are now on whether the governing Mahayuti will contest the elections for the five seats together or whether the three parties will contest separately. As the three parties prepare to contest this election, there are signs of a tug-of-war. On the other hand, there is a possibility of coordination within Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Among the retiring MLCs, Congress and NCP have two each, and one is an independent. No retiring MLC is from BJP or Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. However, the BJP also claims this constituency. If Mahayuti fights these polls together, this seat can go to Shinde Sena. At the same time, NCP has also staked a claim to this constituency. “There is little chance of a consensus on whether this seat will go to BJP or NCP if there is an alliance in Mahayuti. Nagpur graduates’ constituency is a prestigious seat for CM Devendra Fadnavis . During the previous polls, Congress defeated BJP in this constituency. So BJP is preparing to put up a tough fight and so is Congress.
In the Pune graduates constituency, MLC Arun Lad is with the NCP (SP), but his son Sharad Lad joined the BJP last year.