The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Indian National Congress on Wednesday finalised the allocation of seats for the Legislative Assembly elections, deciding that Uddhav Thackeray-led party will contest three of the four seats and an established party will contest one seat.
The decision came a day after the Congress Party accused Thackeray of unilaterally announcing the party’s candidates for the elections.
Biennial elections to four Legislative Assembly seats — Mumbai Graduates Constituency, Konkan Graduates Constituency, Mumbai Teachers Constituency and Nashik Teachers Constituency — were necessitated as the terms of the incumbents expire in July. Voting will take place on June 26 and results will be declared on July 1. Wednesday was the last day to withdraw candidature.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) will now contest the Mumbai Graduates, Mumbai Teachers and Nashik Teachers constituencies, while the Congress Party will contest the Konkan Graduates constituency.
State Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday expressed displeasure over Thackeray’s “unilateral” decision to announce Sena’s (UBT) candidates for the Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers constituencies.
“Uddhav Thackeray announced candidates for Konkan Graduates constituency and Nashik Teachers constituency without any discussion with us. We expected that the candidates and seats would be finalised only after consulting with us,” he said. [Maha Vikas Aghadi] “Thank you to all the voters,” Patole told reporters.
“There is no contest for the MVA,” Thackeray said on Wednesday. “After the Lok Sabha elections, I was abroad for eight days. There was a lack of communication between the two parties. Meanwhile, the date for the Vidhan Parishad elections was approaching and all the parties had announced their candidates. Hence, I have told my candidates to file their nomination papers,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the Congress Party would contest in the Konkan Graduates constituency and that Thackeray’s party’s Kishore Jain had been asked to withdraw from the constituency. Congress Party’s Ramesh Kheer will contest in the Konkan Graduates constituency.
“Following discussions among MVA members, it has been decided that the Indian National Congress will withdraw its nominations from Nashik teachers constituency and Mumbai graduates constituency,” Raut said.
From the Mumbai Teachers constituency, JM Abhiyankar of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Shivnath Darade (backed by the BJP), Subhash More (Shikshak Bharti Party) and NCP leader Shivajirao Nalawade were elected.
In the Mumbai Graduates constituency, the contest will be between Anil Parab of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Kiran Shelar of the BJP and Deepak Sawant of Shiv Sena (Shinde).
In the Nashik teachers constituency, the contest will be between Sandeep Gurave of the Shiv Sena Party (UBT), Kishore Darade (Shiv Sena), Mahendra Bahsar (NCP), Vivek Kolhe (Independent) and NCP leader Mahendra Bahsar.
The candidates for the Konkan Graduates constituency are Ramesh Kheer of the Indian National Congress and Niranjan Davkare of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Konkan Graduates Constituency
BJP: Niranjan Dwakare
Congress: Ramesh Kheer
Mumbai Graduates Constituency
Shiv Sena (UBT): Anil Parab
Kiran Shehra: BJP
Deepak Sawant: Shiv Sena
Mumbai Teachers Constituency
BJP: Shivnath Darade,
UBT: JM Abhiyankar
Shikshak Bharti Party: Subhash More
NCP: Shivajirao Nalawade
Nashik Teachers Constituency
Shiv Sena: Kishore Darade
Shiv Sena (UBT): Sandip Gurwe
NCP: Mahendra Bhavsar
Published: Thursday, June 13, 2024 1:58 AM IST
