Each man for himself in MLC elections, says CM Thackeray

Mumbai: After an apparent Congress snub and unenthusiastic claim of an extra ballot by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha elections held on Friday, Shiv Sena supremo and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has informed his allies that it is each man for himself in the June 20 Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) elections.

Elections to the six Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra saw the BJP securing three Upper House berths in the Parliament for its nominees. On the other hand, the Congress got one of it s candidates elected by expending all its 44 first preference votes on Imran Pratapgarhi. And the NCP elected Praful Patel with 43 votes. This means that three promised votes were denied to the Shiv Sena and that is why the party is smarting now.

While the Shiv Sena needed MLA votes from its Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance partners to elect its second Rajya Sabha candidate Sanjay Pawar, in the state Legislative Council polls, it faces a problem of plenty. It stands to elect its two candidates Sachin Ahir and Aamsha Padvi easily, with additional votes to spare. The Congress, on the other hand, needs alliance votes this time to elect both its MLC aspirants Bhai Jagtap and Chandrakant Handore. It will have to placate the Sena over the Rajya Sabha voting fiasco otherwise it stands to lose out on votes for both its candidates.

Sena Spokesperson and newly elected RS MP Sanjay Raut, who was elected by the skin of his teeth, played down the simmering anger within the Sena on Sunday. He toned down his ‘outrage’ and refrained from levelling accusations on anyone directly. “We have the proper details of those persons who did not transfer their vote to our party,” he said, adding that the Sena will consider its next move. Both senior NCP and Congress leaders including water resources minister Jayant Patil and Nana Patole respectively exhibited confidence in being able to contain fissures in the MVA alliance. However, the Sena’s displeasure has been evident. While the MVA alliance partners will most likely survive the current disaffections, the honeymoon period of the MVA is definitely over!