Mumbai : Political parties are pulling out all stops for the legislative council polls scheduled for Sunday and have sent their corporators to ‘unknown’ locations – mostly resorts on the outskirts of the city – in a bid to keep the flock together.
Eight seats to be filled by local bodies; Political parties have reportedly sent their corporators to ‘unknown’ locations
Though the Congress and the NCP have issued a whip to vote for Ashok (Bhai) Jagtap of Congress – the official candidate of the combine, presence of NCP’s Prasad Lad in the fray can disturb the equations. This might turn the otherwise stale elections into keen contests and the parties are not willing to take risks.
While Sena corporaors from Mumbai have been sent to Retreat Resort in Madh Island, where BJP corporators too joined them on Saturday, the Congress corporators who had been sent to Daman earlier, were asked to reunite on Saturday after returning to city on Friday, sources revealed.
The election was considered easy for Shiv Sena’s Ramdas Kadam, a cabinet minister in the state government and Congress’s Jagtap, as both are sitting MLCs from the seat and are expecting re-election. However, the presence of NCP’s Lad in the fray has led to confusion and suspicion among the Congress ranks. The BJP, which contested last time, stayed away from the race after the MNS turned down their request for an alliance.
The elections to fill eight Legislative Council seats to be elected by local bodies in the state have thrown up several combinations, and money is reportedly coming into play. Corporators, which form the electoral college, are set to throw up keen contests and polls for the two seats from Mumbai is expected to be the most intense battle.
There was wide speculation of money being used as inducement to split votes of opponents. The Congress is wary of a tacit understanding between the NCP and the BJP to defeat Jagtap. Congress has 53 corporators and needs the support of all the 14 corporators from the NCP to stand a chance of sailing through.
A candidate would need 68 votes to win if Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena remains firm on its decision of staying away from the polls.
The Shiv Sena is confident of a victory for Kadam since it has 76 corporators of its own besides 13 independents in support.
Congress’s Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam said the party was confident that all its 53 corporators will vote in Jagtap’s favour. Jagtap would need another 15 votes to sail through. “All our votes are intact. We will sail through with NCP’s support,” he said.
NCP sources said party chief Sharad Pawar had a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan on Friday and assured that corporators of his party will vote in Congress’s favour. But the Congress is taking no chances. On Saturday, senior leaders from both parties will jointly address corporators from both sides at ITC. “We will vote for the Congress,” said NCP’s Mumbai chief Sachin Ahir.
Sources said BJP was exploring options of diverting some votes from its own camp and from the Shiv Sena to Lad to upset the Congress.
Besides Mumbai, elections will be held under local bodies in Solapur, Ahmednagar, Akola-Washim-Buldhana, Kolhapur, Dhule-Nandurbar, and Nagpur. The NCP requires Congress’s backing to retain the Solapur and Ahmednagar seats.
