Straight fight for additional votes between Congress and BJP

Mumbai: Monday’s Vidhan Parishad elections will likely be a straight fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ambitious fifth candidate and Congress party’s Mumbai president Bhai Jagtap who is short of eight votes for a comfortable win.

A senior Congress leader told First India, “Our party is under tremendous pressure but realistic. Our first preference votes will go to elect Chandrakant Handore. We had sounded out Bhai Jagtap right at the beginning, that he would have to try his luck getting the eight votes he’s likely to be short of.”

With its 106 MLA votes, the BJP can easily ensure the required 26 votes to each of its first four candidates. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with its 51 MLAs (as Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik are incarcerated) and one vote promised by the All India MajlisE-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is confident on the prospects of its two nominees.

Following its formula from the recent Rajya Sabha polls, the BJP is looking to sway independent MLAs and smaller parties to vote for Lad, its fifth candidate, and is not above poaching votes from the Congress and Shiv Sena.

Similarly, the Shiv Sena has fielded Sachin Ahir and Amshya Padvi. The party is expected to coast through with its first preference votes for both candidates with its 55 MLA votes (down by one after the demise of Mumbai MLA Ramesh Latke). That is, unless the BJP manages to poach its MLAs during the secret ballot voting process prescribed for Vidhan Parishad elections.

The Sena, still smarting from the invalidated vote of MLA Suhas Kande in the RS polls, is expected to ensure the requisite 52 votes for its own candidates, with one extra vote, just in case.

The MVA government had claimed a strength of 170 MLAs in the state legislature in 2019 but five independent MLAs let them down in the Rajya Sabha polls, leaving the coalition with 161 MLAs in the Maharashtra legislative assembly.