Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 2: Rebellion erupted across political parties on the final day of filing nominations for the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections to 17 Local Authorities Constituencies, creating confusion in both the ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) camps.
Except for the BJP, most parties witnessed dissent over candidate selection, with multiple aspirants filing nomination papers against officially backed candidates. The political picture is expected to become clearer only after the June 4 deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
In the Ahilyanagar Local Authorities Constituency, candidates from all three MVA partners filed nominations. Rani Lanke of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), Karan Sasane of the Congress and Machhindra Dhumal of the Shiv Sena (UBT) entered the fray against BJP candidate Prajakt Tanpure.
In Pune, two candidates from the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar filed nominations. Vikram Kakade, son of businessman Sanjay Kakade, and former MLA Sunil Tingre both submitted nomination papers, leading to uncertainty within the party.
A similar situation emerged in Yavatmal, where two leaders from the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde filed nominations. Dushyant Chaturvedi and Sheetal Rathod, wife of minister Sanjay Rathod, entered the contest, triggering confusion within the party.
Rebel candidates have also complicated equations in Nanded, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Raigad, putting alliance partners in direct competition.
In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna constituency, former minister Abdul Sattar's son Sameer Sattar filed a nomination against BJP candidate Suhas Shirsat, signalling dissent within the Shinde-led Sena.
In Raigad, Shiv Sena leader Juili Dalvi filed an independent nomination against NCP candidate Aniket Tatkare, intensifying the contest within the ruling alliance.
According to the Maharashtra Congress, Ramdas Patil-Sukhatankar is the party's official candidate from Nanded. However, former MLA Madhavrao Patil-Jalgaonkar also filed a nomination. BJP's Amar Rajurkar is the party's candidate from the constituency.
In Nanded, Pravin Chikhalikar, son of NCP MLA Pratap Patil-Chikhalikar, has also entered the race. In Hingoli, Krishna Patil-Ashtikar, son of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar, filed a nomination against the party's official candidate Dr Vivek Navandar.
Meanwhile, the Congress announced candidates for several constituencies. Shailesh Agrawal has been nominated from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, while former MLA Dilip Bansod will contest from Bhandara-Gondia.
The party's list also mentions Praful Agrawal and Naresh Ishwarkar as independent candidates. Sahebrao Dattarao Kamble has been fielded from Yavatmal, Harshdeep Deshmukh from Amravati, and both Atul Londhe and Dinesh Dhole have filed nominations for the Nagpur by-election seat.
Congress has also nominated Mahesh Deshmukh from Dharashiv-Latur-Beed and Aditya Fattepurkar from Solapur.
With rebels and official candidates locked in contests across several constituencies, both Mahayuti and MVA face the challenge of resolving internal differences before the withdrawal deadline on Jun 4.