Shiv Sena (UBT) Anil Parab wins the Mumbai Graduates’ seat in the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Monday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After registering morale-boosting victories in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has won two out of the four seats it contested in the biennial Maharashtra Legislative Council election. The ruling Mahayuti alliance retained its Konkan Graduates seat.
The results for the biennial election to the Upper House of the State Legislature were announced on Monday. Polling was held on June 26.
The six-year term of four Members of Legislative Council (MLCs) — Mumbai Teachers, Mumbai Graduates, Konkan Graduates, and Nashik Teachers — is to expire on July 7, triggering the need for the polls. Currently, Vilas Potnis of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray or UBT) and Niranjan Davkhare of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represent the Mumbai and Konkan Division Graduates’ constituencies, respectively. The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Kishor Darade, and the Lok Bharti Party’s Kapil Patil, represent the Nashik and Mumbai Teachers’ constituencies, respectively.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has registered two wins — Anil Parab from Mumbai Graduates, and J. M. Abhyankar from the Mumbai Teachers constituencies, respectively. This will be the former Minister Mr. Parab’s third term as a member of the Upper House in the Maharashtra Legislature.
The BJP’s sitting MLC from Konkan Graduates, Niranjan Davkhare, has successfully defended his position. With Monday’s victory, this is the fourth MLC term for Mr. Davkhare. He was with the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) when he switched over to the BJP in 2018 and resigned as an MLC, only to get re-elected.
When reports came in last, counting for the Nashik Teachers constituency, where 21 candidates had contested, was underway. The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sandeep Gulve has challenged the sitting MLC of the rival Shiv Sena’s Kishor Darade. The BJP’s Vivek Kolhe is also in the fray as an independent contestant.
This was the first State-level election after the 18th Lok Sabha election. In Maharashtra, out of the 48 seats, the Opposition MVA alliance secured 30, while the ruling alliance won 17.
Another 11 MLC seats will go to the polls on July 12, and Tuesday is the last date to file nominations for them.
These two MLC elections are seen as a precursor to the next Assembly elections. The current Assembly’s term ends on November 26.
Meanwhile, the BJP announced five candidates for the upcoming biennial elections, including former State Minister Pankaja Munde, who lost the recently held Lok Sabha election from Beed to the NCP (Sharad Pawar or SP)’s Bajrang Sonawane. The Congress re-nominated MLC Pradnya Rajeev Satav as its candidate.
In addition to Ms. Munde, the BJP has named former MLAs Yogest Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe, and Sadabhau Khot.
While Mr. Phuke, a native of Nagpur, is known for his close association with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mr. Gorkhe, a BJP leader from Pimpri Chinchwad, is a member of the Matang Backward Class community. Mr. Tilekar is from Pune, and Mr. Khot is from Sangli in western Maharashtra.
The NCP (SP), an ally of the Congress, has declared support for Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil.
With 14 vacancies in the 288-member Legislative Assembly, the electoral college consists of 274 members requiring a quota of 23 votes for a candidate to win.
In terms of party strength, the BJP has 103 MLAs, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has 41, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has 40, the Congress has 37, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has 13, and the NCP (SP) has 15 legislators.
Meanwhile, in the State Assembly, Mr. Fadnavis on Monday said a law to curb exam paper leaks would be enacted during the ongoing monsoon session. He announced this while replying to a supplementary question during the Question Hour on the issue of recruitment to government jobs.
