Uddhav fields Narwekar for council polls, NCP (SP) wants him to withdraw

Mumbai: The biennial election for 11 Maharashtra legislative council seats has created another rift in the Maha Vikas Aghadi after Uddhav Thackeray’s secretary Milind Narvekar filed nomination as the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate. With Narvekar’s candidature, there are 12 candidates in the fray.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP is hoping that Narvekar withdraws his candidature before the July 5 deadline so that remaining candidates are elected unopposed.

Mr. Narwekar’s candidature may undermine chances of Sharad Pawar backed PWP leader Jayant Patil unless the MVA manages to get BJP-led ‘Mahayuti’ supporter MLAs to cross-vote

The BJP has fielded five candidates, including Pankaja Munde while its alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP have fielded two candidates each. The Congress has fielded Pradnya Satav, the wife of late Congress leader Rajeev Satav. NCP founder Sharad Pawar has declared support for the PWP chief Jayant Patil.

The 11 council members will be elected by the members of legislative assembly (MLAs). Going by the strength of the lower House, Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) can elect two members.

According to sources, Mr Pawar had promised support for Mr. Patil in the council elections in return for his support for the MVA for the Lok Sabha elections. However, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is of the opinion that the PWP did not help its candidate Anant Gite in the Raigad Lok Sabha seat as promised and therefore it is not bound to support Mr. Patil.

Mr. Narwekar’s entry in the fray will unsettle all the other candidates as the elections will be held through secret ballot. All parties want elections to be held unopposed as it will prevent horse trading and expenditure of the candidates.

A source from the NCP (SP) said, “We are hopeful that Uddhav Thackeray will respect Mr. Pawar’s word and Mr. Narwekar will withdraw his candidature. If not, money will become a decisive factor as it is going to be a secret ballot.”

The source further said that the PWP chief is not going to withdraw as Mr. Pawar had given him the assurance before the Lok Sabha polls.

In the biennial elections, each candidate needs 23 votes of MLAs to get elected as an MLC. The BJP-led Mahayuti has the support of more than 200 MLAs, including Independents. The Maha Vikas Aghadi has the support of 63 MLAs, and is short of at least six votes to get all the three candidates elected. If the MVA does not get additional votes, the fight for the 11th seat will be between Mr. Narwekar and Mr. Patil in case the elections are held.

However, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “We are confident of our candidate’s victory.”