Shiv Sena (UBT) retains two seats, BJP wins one in Maharashtra Assembly elections

After registering a morale-boosting victory in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has won two of the four seats it contested in the biennial Maharashtra Assembly elections. Mahayuthi The alliance retained the Konkan Graduates seat.

The results of the biennial election for the state Senate were announced Monday. Voting took place on June 26.

The six-year term of four Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) — Mumbai Teachers, Mumbai Graduates, Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers — ends on July 7, necessitating elections. Currently, Vilas Potnis of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, UBT) and Niranjan Davkare of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represent the Mumbai and Konkan Graduates constituencies respectively. Kishore Darade of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Kapil Patil of the Bharatiya Janata Party represent the Nashik and Mumbai Teachers constituencies respectively.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) recorded two victories – Anil Parab from the Mumbai Graduates constituency and JM Abhiyankar from the Mumbai Teachers constituency. Former minister Parab will be serving his third term as an Upper House member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Niranjan Davkare, the BJP’s sitting MLC from Konkan University, successfully defended his position. Monday’s victory marks his fourth term as MLC. He was previously with the National Congress Party (NCP) in 2018, but switched over to the BJP and resigned as MLC, but was re-elected.

As of last report, counting was underway for the Nashik teachers constituency, where 21 candidates have been fielded. Sandeep Garve of Shiv Sena (UBT) has challenged the sitting MLC from rival Shiv Sena’s Kishore Darade. Vivek Kolhe of the BJP is also fielding as an independent.

This was the first state-level election after the 18th Lok Sabha elections. In Maharashtra, of the 48 seats, the opposition MVA alliance won 30 and the ruling coalition won 17.

Voting for the remaining 11 MLC seats will take place on July 12, with Tuesday being the deadline for submitting nominations.

These two MLC elections are seen as a precursor to the next parliamentary elections. The current parliament’s term ends on November 26.

Meanwhile, the BJP has announced five candidates for the upcoming biennial elections, including former state minister Pankaja Munde, who lost from Beed to NCP (Sharad Pawar or SP) leader Bajrang Sonawane in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The Indian National Congress has re-nominated MLC Pradnya Rajiv Satav as its candidate.

Besides Munde, the BJP has nominated former state assembly members Yogest Tillekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Goelke and Sadabhav Kot.

While Puke, who hails from Nagpur, is known for his close association with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP leader Goleke, who hails from Pimpri-Chinchwad, is a member of the Matang Backward Classes. Tillekar hails from Pune and Kot is from Sangli in western Maharashtra.

The Indian National Congress’ ally, the Sri Lankan Congress Party (SP), has extended its support to the Peasant Workers’ Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil.

There are 14 vacant seats in the 288-member Legislative Assembly, and the Electoral College is made up of 274 members, meaning a candidate needs 23 votes to win.

In terms of party strength, the BJP has 103 members in the state assembly, Ajit Pawar’s NCP has 41, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has 40, Indian National Congress has 37, Shiv Sena (UBT) has 13 and NCP (SP) has 15.

Meanwhile, in the state Assembly, Fadnavis said on Monday that a law would be brought in to curb the leaking of exam questions during the ongoing monsoon session. He made the announcement while replying to a supplementary question during a question and answer session on the issue of government recruitment.