MLC elections: MVA manages to get house in order, Sena (UBT), Cong exchange Nashik & Nagpur seats

Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut while expressing displeasure over the lack of coordination between the MVA partners said that his party has sacrificed this time but won’t repeat it in future. January 16 was the last day to withdraw nominations.

Written by Alok Deshpande

Mumbai | Updated: January 17, 2023 02:40 PM IST

3 min read

Independent candidate Shubhangi Patil from Dhule received support from Sena (UBT). (File)

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THE MAHA Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners managed to get their house in order despite miscommunication and rebellion to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming legislative council elections. The coalition partners will take on the ruling BJP with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress exchanging seats in Nashik and Nagpur. However, the election in these two seats is unlikely to be a one-on-one fight as claimed by the MVA earlier.

Following the rebellion from Congress’s Satyajeet Tambe, who filed nomination as an Independent candidate, the Sena (UBT) was given the Nashik Division Graduates’ seat.

Independent candidate Shubhangi Patil from Dhule received support from Sena (UBT). Three months ago, Patil joined BJP seeking a ticket for the election. Earlier, she was a worker with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Meanwhile, another Independent candidate Suresh Jangale also claimed that he is the true MVA candidate leading to a triangular fight.

In exchange, Sena (UBT) asked its candidate Gangadhar Nakade in Nagpur Division Teachers’ seat to withdraw. In Nagpur, Congress-led teachers’ organisation’s Sudhakar Adbale will be the MVA candidate. However, Shikshak Bharati’s Rajendra Zade and NCP’s Satish Itkelwar have not withdrawn their candidature making it a four-pronged contest against BJP-affiliated sitting MLC Nago Ganar.

On Monday, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole held talks with Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and later Thackeray held talks with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. “Congress did not consult (with us) about the Nasik seat and Had they consulted, (we) would have found a way out,” Pawar had said on Sunday.

“We exchanged the seats between ourselves. I am sure that we will win the election,” said Patole. On Sunday, the disciplinary action committee of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) placed Maharashtra MLC Sudhir Tambe under suspension pending an inquiry against him. Tambe did not file a nomination for the Nashik Division Graduates’ seat for the legislative council election despite the party announcing his name.

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Instead, his son and former Maharashtra youth congress president Satyajeet Tambe filed the nomination as an Independent candidate.

However, Raut did not mince words when he advised Congress about the situation. “The council polls have shown that things should have been handled in a better manner. We as an MVA need better communication. We also want to clarify that though we sacrificed this time for allies, it won’t be every time that we will take a step back,” he said.

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