Amid rebellion and friction over seat-sharing ahead of the Maharashtra legislative council elections, constituents of the ruling Mahayuti alliance has appealed to rebels to withdraw from the contest to ensure victory of official candidates.
Meanwhile, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties are troubled with withdrawals and disqualification of their official nominees.
Elections to 16 legislative council seats from the local self-government bodies and a bypoll from the Nagpur self-government body are scheduled to take place on June 18, and votes will be counted on June 22.
Scrutiny of nomination forms was completed on June 2, while the last date for withdrawal is June 4. Members of local self-government bodies comprise the electoral college for these polls.
Among the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP is contesting 11 seats, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena four, and the NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, two.
In the opposition MVA camp, the Congress is contesting the highest eight out of 17 seats, followed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) with six seats and the NCP (SP) with three.
Both ruling as well as opposition camps faced rebellion on various seats with disappointed ticket aspirants defying party orders and filing nominations as independents to challenge the official candidates.
Political activity intensified after rebel nominations surfaced in several constituencies, prompting both the alliances to consolidate support ahead of the withdrawal deadline.
Maharashtra BJP chief Ravindra Chavan said June 4 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations and urged party workers and local body members to support the official Mahayuti nominees.
"We are declaring our official list of candidates for all 17 seats. I appeal to local elected representatives to cast their first preferential vote in favour of Mahayuti candidates. Those unhappy with nominations can discuss their concerns with local leaders and find a solution," he said.
NCP state president Sunil Tatkare said multiple aspirants filed nominations despite official candidates being in the fray.
"We reviewed the situation today and clear instructions have been issued by party leaderships for such candidates. The Mahayuti is determined to win all 17 seats in this election," he said.
Sahebrao Kamble, who was fielded by the Congress from the Yavatmal local authorities' constituency, announced his withdrawal from the contest citing inadequate electoral strength to secure a win.
His exit adds to the woes of the MVA, which also saw the rejection of Congress nominee Aditya Fattepurkar's nomination from Solapur, prompting the opposition alliance to consider backing another candidate.
Industrialist Arun Lakhani and several others are among 39 candidates from both the ruling alliance and opposition have filed nominations for the polls to 16 seats from local self-government bodies and one bypoll in Nagpur.
With inputs from PTI
