Maharashtra parties move assembly members to hotel ahead of crucial Legislative Assembly elections

It’s election season again in Maharashtra and to prevent vote rigging, both Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Eknath Shinde-led Sena have shifted their state assembly members to separate hotels in Mumbai ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections scheduled for Friday.

Keeping in mind the secret ballot for the elections, both the camps are keeping a close watch on their own groupings to keep them together and avoid any chance of cross-voting. The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government collapsed two-and-a-half years ago due to cross-voting in the MLC elections, further splitting the Shiv Sena party.

In such elections, due to the secret ballot system, there is usually a fear of cross-voting as MPs often vote as per their own preference against party instructions. To avoid this, all major political parties have shifted their MPs to five-star hotels in Mumbai. Sources said that every evening, when the MPs return to their respective hotels from the Assembly, top leaders of each party repeatedly instruct their MPs on how to vote as per their party preferences. As this election is being considered as a semi-final before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, each party is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the victory of their candidates.

Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) has accommodated its legislators at the ITC Grand Central Hotel in Lower Parel. BJP legislators are staying at the Taj President in Colaba and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) legislators at the Taj Lands End in Bandra. Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction has arranged accommodation for its legislators at Hotel Lalit in Andheri. Confident of the unity of its legislators, the Indian National Congress has organised a small dinner at Hotel Intercontinental in South Mumbai on Thursday. Indian National Congress observers are expected to arrive from Delhi to brief the legislators on the vote. Interestingly, Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) has neither booked a hotel for its legislators nor organised any big function.

On Wednesday, the BJP held a separate meeting of state legislators to rehearse the voting modalities for the MLC elections under the watch of its senior leaders. Late on Wednesday night, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held a closed-door meeting with state legislators at the Taj Land’s End Hotel in Bandra to discuss the MLC elections. Leaders of the Shiv Sena UBT also met, with party leaders briefing state legislators about the MLC elections.

There are 11 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly with 12 candidates up for election. Despite the quota of only two candidates being elected in this election, the MVA is fielding a third candidate, which will be an interesting development. After consulting with other alliance partners, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray who has connections across all parties. Narvekar is influential and will be tasked with managing the additional votes needed to ensure that the MVA’s third candidate wins comfortably.

Congress leader Pradnya Satav and Farmers Party leader Jayant Patil were the first two candidates from the MVA. Narvekar was seen speaking with leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) inside the Assembly premises after filing his nomination as the third candidate.

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The ruling BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP have a combined total of 181 seats, while the MVA, comprising the Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), has 64 seats. There are 29 members of the state assembly belonging to smaller parties and all parties are trying to secure their votes.

The BJP nominated Marathwada OBC leader Pankaja Munde as its candidate, who was recently defeated by an NCP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. The other candidates are Amit Golke, Sadabhau Kot, Yogesh Tillekar and Parinay Phuke, who was given re-election. Shinde’s Shiv Sena fielded former MPs Bawana Gawli and Kurpal Tumane, but their nominations were defeated in the Lok Sabha elections due to anti-incumbency and negative poll reports. To appease these influential leaders, Shinde gave them a backdoor route to the polls. Ajit Pawar has shown faith in his supporters Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar.

The ruling BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP have a combined total of 181 seats, while the MVA, comprising the Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), has 64 seats. There are 29 members of the state assembly belonging to smaller parties and all parties are trying to secure their votes.

The BJP nominated Marathwada OBC leader Pankaja Munde as its candidate, who was recently defeated by an NCP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. The other candidates were Amit Golke, Sadabhau Kot, Yogesh Tillekar and Parinay Phuke, who was given re-election. Shinde’s Shiv Sena fielded former MPs Bawana Gawli and Kurpal Tumane, but their nominations were defeated in the Lok Sabha elections due to anti-incumbency and negative poll reports. To appease these influential leaders, Shinde gave them a backdoor route to the polls. Ajit Pawar has shown faith in his supporters Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar.