“All Nominations Done, Ready To Fight Today”: Congress On Maharashtra Poll

Mumbai:

The Maha Vikas Aghadi has completed nominations for all 288 seats for next month’s Maharashtra election, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said Wednesday amid speculation of confusion within the alliance over the division of seats.

However, addressing reporters with Nana Patole (the Congress’ state unit boss) and senior leader Varsha Gaikwad and Naseem Khan at his side, Mr Chennithala declared, “We are ready to fight this election today.”

On Tuesday – as the clock ticked past the deadline for nominations – it appeared the opposition MVA alliance, which consists of the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, and the Nationalist Congress Party bloc led by Sharad Pawar – had not formally named candidates for 11 seats.

READ | Nominations Over, But Uncertainty Over 15 Seats In Maharashtra

The ruling Mahayuti alliance – the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sena and NCP factions lead by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, Ajit Pawar – had apparently not filled four seats.

Speaking this morning, Mr Chennithala acknowledged “misunderstanding” between the MVA members but insisted there were no rifts between the allies as a result of that uncertainty.

He also slammed the ruling alliance for “fighting from each other’s quotas”, referring to more than one instance of BJP leaders contesting seats for the Shinde Sena or Ajit Pawar’s NCP group.

“There is misunderstanding between us (but) Mahayuti members are fighting amongst themselves. They are fighting from each other’s quotas… BJP leaders are fighting under Shiv Sena and NCP symbols. It is the BJP that is fighting alone… Shinde and Ajit Pawar are finished.”

The Congress leader also stressed, “We, in the MVA, have given equal treatment to all…”, a comment seen by many as countering criticism of the party after the Haryana election result.

The Congress, widely expected to record a comfortable win in the heartland state, raced into a big early lead as votes were counted October 8, but slipped to defeat by the BJP’s late charge.

The party’s allies, most notably the Thackeray Sena, were angered by what they said was the Congress’ failure to accommodate smaller and regional partners. The Thackeray Sena’s jabs – published in party mouthpiece Saamana – drew an immediate response from the Congress’ Maharashtra office, which said it valued their allies and would not act as the Haryana unit did.

READ | “Arrogant, Overconfident”: Allies Twist Knife In Congress Over Haryana

“There are a lot of differences within the Mahayuti… the BJP’s stealing of seats from allies is a clear message it wants to kill off its allies. But we (the MVA) are together…” Mr Chennithala said.

There will be no ‘friendly fight’ within the MVA, he stressed, referring to unfortunate situations in the April-June general election that saw occasions in which members of the Congress-led INDIA bloc fielded candidates for the same seat.

As far as the MVA is concerned, as of Tuesday evening it appeared the Congress had nominated 103 candidates, while the Thackeray Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP had named 87 each.

In each case it was over the 85 per party agreed upon.

Some of the 11 remaining seats are expected to go to smaller allies and the Samajwadi Party, but there is no clarity on which party gets which seats, or even how many.

From the other side, as of now the BJP has named 152 candidates, Ajit Pawar’s NCP 52, and Shinde’s Sena 80. This includes seats for smaller allies – four from the BJP and two from the Shinde Sena.

An example of the confusion on this side of the fence was Nawab Malik, with the Ajit Pawar NCP faction, filing two nominations, one as an independent candidate.

READ | BJP’s Shaina NC Switches Party After Eknath Shinde’s Seat Offer

In another instance, BJP spokesperson NC Shaina joined the Shinde Sena and was fielded from the Mumbadevi seat after a lack of clarity over her former party’s plans for her.

READ | NCP’s Nawab Malik Files 2 Nomination Forms, Sparks Buzz, Clarifies

The delay and indecision emphasises the premium placed on Maharashtra and this election, which is expected to be a referendum on the last several years of political upheaval in the state.

Over the last two years, the state has been rocked by political turmoil – the Sena split and subsequent collapse of the MVA government, as well as controversy over the BJP and the rebel groups taking power. This was followed by a split in the NCP. The repercussion was felt in the Lok Sabha election.

The MVA won 30 of the state’s 48 seats, while the ruling alliance got only 17.

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