MUMBAI: The ruling MahaYuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra are struggling to pacify ticket aspirants who have threatened to revolt against the official candidates.
The BJP appears ill-at-ease at the Madha seat as party cadres are unhappy with the re-nominated and sitting Lok Sabha MP Ranjit Naik Nimbalkar. Discordant voices have appeared over the neglect of party veteran Vijay Sinh Mohite Patil.
“In the previous Lok Sabha elections, Mohite Patil was given over one lakh votes from his Akluj constituency alone. If the family refuses to campaign or even remains silent, it will have a huge negative impact on the BJP,” said a senior BJP leader. To salvage the situation, BJP minister Girish Mahajan, came as an emissary of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to meet Mohite Patil and his supporters in Akluj. “Mohite Patil is a big leader. I will convey this to our top leaders,” said Mahajan.
On the other hand, Congress and Shiv Sena (Udhav Thackeray) are facing a tough task to resolve the Sangali Lok Sabha seat dispute. According to Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Kolhapur was the party’s seat which it decided to give to Congress. In the bargain, Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest from Sangali. But Congress is adamant, asserting that Sangli has been its traditional seat.
In Baramati, Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader and ex- minister Vijay Shivtare said he would contest as an independent against the Mahayuti’s Sunetra Pawar, spouse of deputy CM Ajit Pawar. In Amaravati, the BJP is likely to field sitting LS MP Navneet Rana.
Ajit Pawar’s brother splits
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s younger brother Srinivas Pawar can be heard criticising him for leaving the side of NCP founder Sharad Pawar. Asserting that he was not ready to leave the founder just because he was 83, Srinivas said some of his friends advised him to side with Ajit “as the future lies with him”. No one should think someone is weak because they have aged,” he said.