Council polls will be unopposed, ruling side cannot afford loyalty test before assembly: Jayant Patil

Out of the 11 MLCs retiring on July 27, four belong to BJP, two to Congress while NCP, SHiv Sena, Shiv Sena-UBT, Peasants and Workers Party and Rashtriya Samaj Party have one MLC each.

The election of these 11 MLCs is through a secret ballot from the MLAs. With the strength of the assembly reduced to 274 from 288 – for reasons such as MLAs getting elected to Lok Sabha, death and suspension — the ruling coalition will be on its toes to keep its MLAs together.

In the event of voting – if more than 11 nominations are filed – the MLCs will get elected through a preferential voting system. The winning candidate would require 23 votes of first preference to get elected.

Meanwhile the NCP (SP) leader added that even if around 11 MLAs from the ruling side are willing to return to NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s side, the change is unlikely to happen before the budget. “Developmental works in assembly segments are important for every MLA. Everyone is waiting for Ajit Pawar to deliver the budget and once the projects are approved, we will see people taking decisions from mid-August,” said Patil.

When asked about senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal rejoining the Sharad Pawar led party, Patil said that he is not in touch with Bhujbal and did not have any idea about his future plans.