Mumbai: The state leadership of the BJP has sent eight names to the central leadership as their recommendations for the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) polls slated to happen in the second week of July.
BJP leaders and former ministers Raosaheb Danve and Pankaja Munde have been included in the list. This is being seen as the BJP's attempt to attract votes from the OBC and Maratha communities in the upcoming assembly elections. The local leadership has left the final decision on whether to contest more seats than the quota available to the high command of the party.
The BJP has a quota of seven seats in these polls based on their numbers in the state assembly. Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has a quota of almost three seats. The average quota needed for each MLC seat this time is 23.
Statement Of BJP Leaders On The Decision
BJP leaders said that the decision about whether to contest more than seven seats was open which means there is some uncertainty over whether there will be a contest or the election will happen unopposed this time.
Pankaja Munde contested the recent Lok Sabha polls from the Beed constituency and lost by a thin margin. It is generally perceived that there was major polarisation on caste lines in many constituencies of the Marathwada region between the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Maratha community because of the Maratha reservation demand and agitation issue. Danve lost the Lok Sabha election too.
Now the BJP wants to rehabilitate both these leaders by giving them a seat in the state legislative council which means they could be included in the state cabinet in the future. This is a signal to the OBC community (in the case of Pankaja) as well as the Maratha community (in the case of Raosaheb Danve) that they may get representation in the future state cabinet if BJP-led Mahayuti alliance returns to power.
The BJP state leadership has also recommended the names of Parinay Phuke, Harshawarshan Patil, Chitra Wagh, Amit Gorkhe, Yogesh Tilekar, and Nilesh Naik among others to keep the caste and gender balance correct in the candidate list.
