Maha Council poll: Booster dose for MahaYuti, alarm call for MVA in run-up to Assembly elections

Mumbai, July 12 (IANS) In the run-up to the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, the ruling MahaYuti alliance received a booster dose after it won nine seats in the state council poll, putting the brakes on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s victory march after the latter’s gains in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. It was possible due to the teamwork, precision planning, and coordination between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his two deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. The MVA, which comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP, has suffered a setback as it failed to do the proper arithmetic of shoring necessary votes for the victory of its three nominees. The council election results have given a much-needed push to the MahaYuti ahead of the Assembly polls while for the MVA, it is certainly an alarm and signal that the Opposition will have to strive to defeat the ruling alliance in the upcoming elections.A visibly relaxed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday claimed that “today’s victory has proved that the MahaYuti will win the upcoming Assembly elections by putting a show of unity”.On the other hand, Deputy CM Fadnavis, who had offered to resign following the party’s dismal show in the general elections, said, “Today is a happy day for MahaYuti. Our nine candidates have been elected. When the MahaYuti had decided to contest nine seats under CM Eknath Shinde’s leadership, many people expressed doubts. Today, the MahaYuti not just got its (MLAs’) votes but also of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.”For Deputy CM Pawar, the victory of NCP’s two nominees was a major relief after the party’s poor performance in the general elections. Pawar said, “Our strategy was to not disturb our ally and ensure that we gain extra votes from outside. It worked and we managed to win nine seats.” While six MLAs from Congress have reportedly cross-voted in favour of the ruling alliance, the claims of NCP-SP leaders about MLAs from Ajit Pawar camp shifting towards them have fallen flat. CM Shinde too has proven that his command over the MLAs from Shiv Sena remains firm as none from his side have shifted their allegiance to Uddhav Thackeray.Apart from CM Shinde’s strategy, the MahaYuti leaders have given credit to Deputy CM Fadnavis for successfully managing the numerical game of the council election by defeating the MVA. Five MLCs of the BJP show its attempt to reestablish the caste combination by promotion of OBC leadership in the form of Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar and Parinay Phuke; young Dalit face of Amit Gorkhe, and farmer leader Sadabhau Khot.(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at [email protected])–IANSsj/sha