Amid the emerging possibility of cross-voting by MLAs in the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Wednesday caused a stir by visiting Trident Hotel in south Mumbai, where the ruling Shiv Sena MLAs have been lodged by their party leadership to ensure against poaching by the principal Opposition party in the state. Less than 36 hours to go for the Rajya Sabha polls in which it has fielded three candidates as against its strength to win two RS seats, the BJP unleashed psychological warfare to unsettle ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi – comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress-- ahead of the biennial RS polls for six seats.
Patil -- who had earlier in the day met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and sought the support of the lone MLA in RS polls – dropped in at Trident Hotel ostensibly to meet and have a cup of tea with a person staying at hotel.
Talking to media persons, Shelar said: “I have come to Trident Hotel for a cup of tea. I am meeting a person who is staying at the hotel with whom I will tea,” Shelar said. Patil’s visit to Trident Hotel came on a day when chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was away in Aurangabad for a public rally.
On Tuesday, Uddhav—along with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge – had interacted with the MVA legislators at the Hotel Trident.
While the Sena MLAs are putting up at the Trident Hotel, the ruling NCP and Congress MLAs are staying at Hotel Renaissance at Powai. The BJP MLAs were scheduled to move into Taj Vivanta at Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai.
Patil’s visit to Trident Hotel should be seen in light of Opposition BJP’s desperation to muster required numbers to win third RS seat. Given the strengths of major contending parties in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly that is an electoral college for the polls, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – can win four out of six RS seats, while the BJP can win two seats.
Setting the cat among pigeons, the BJP has complicated the RS poll scene in the state by putting up a third candidate Dhananjay Mahadik in addition to its two regular candidates -- Union Minister Piyush Goyal and its other leader Anil Bonde.
Together the MVA constituents have fielded four candidates. While the Shiv Sena has re-nominated Sanjay Raut for a fourth term and its Kolhapur district unit chief Sanjay Pawar, the NCP has re-fielded former Civil Aviation Minister Minister and Sharad Pawar’s confidante Praful Patel.
On its part, the Congress has sprung a surprise by putting up Imran Pratapgarhi, a Uttar Pradesh-based Urdu poet, as its candidate for the polls. The RS polls from Maharashtra have been necessitated by the impending retirement of six sitting MPs --Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress Minister P Chidambaram, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, former Union Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Vikas Mahatme, both from the BJP, on July 4, 2022.
They are among the 57 RS members whose terms will end on different dates in the coming weeks.
The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has a strength of 170 MLAs --- Shiv Sena 55 (one MLA Ramesh Latke, died in Dubai last week), NCP 53, Congress 44, smaller parties/groups 10 and 8 Independents. The Opposition BJP has 106 and it enjoys the support of five Independent MLAs and two MLAs from smaller parties. As per the understanding reached among them on the basis of their respective strengths in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the ruling Shiv Sena is contesting two seats, while the NCP and Congress are fielding one candidate each. For winning a RS seat, the approximate number of votes required is 42.
After winning one seat each, the MVA will still have additional 44 MLAs with whose support it can win one more RS seat. On their part, the NCP and Congress have decided to transfer their additional votes to the Shiv Sena.
On its part, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opposed the pleas filed by NCP leaders Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik who in their capacity as MLAs have sought permission from the election authorities that they be allowed to vote in the RS polls scheduled for June 10.
Both Deshmukh and Malik are currently in judicial custody in two separate alleged money laundering cases. The Opposition BJP has a strength of 113 MLAs (106 MLAs of its own, five Independent MLAs and two MLAs from smaller parties supporting it) in the State Assembly.