Will Congress offer MLC ticket to its ‘defeated’ leaders?

Dozens of aspirants in Congress for lone seat in the Legislative Council

Mumbai: Although Congress is adamant on contesting two seats in the forthcoming biennial elections to 9 Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC), Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is equally adamant that ballot for the polls should be avoided. As the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) strategy is to avoid elections, the Congress in the bargain is likely to get only one seat to contest.

Two former chief ministers and other leaders, including the party’s state president Balasaheb Thorat, have recommended about a dozen names for the seat to party high command. Almost all of these aspirants have lost in one or two elections. The question here is, by giving these ‘Defeated’ candidates another chance at the Legislative Council through the back door, will it not be doing injustice to the loyal party cadres and an insult of the votes and the voters who had rejected them? The Congress will have to make a tough decision in the next two days.

Nomination papers for the 9 seats to be elected to the Legislative Council from the Elected by the Members of the Assembly constituency (EMLA) will be filed from Monday, May 4. A tacit agreement has been reached between Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paving the way for Thackeray’s election to the legislative council. In return, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will contest five seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) four seats, according to political sources.

Also Read: BJP decides to contest on four seats in MLC polls

If the BJP contests three seats and the Congress one, both the parties will have surplus 15 votes each. If the BJP fields a fourth candidate and the Congress a second candidate, then there is a strong possibility of horse trading and splitting of votes. That is why Thackeray is adamant that this election should be held unopposed. The setback will be for the Congress. In the process BJP 4, NCP and Shiv Sena 2 each and one Congress candidate will be elected.

13 aspiring candidates from Congress

Balasaheb Thorat, is not just the state party president, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and Revenue minister, above all is a close confidante of Congress working president Sonia Gandhi. His word carrys weight in Delhi. According to sources, Thorat has recommended three names, Mohan Joshi of Pune, Kalyan Kale of Aurangabad and Muzaffar Hussain of Mira Bhayandar. Thorat’s first choice is Joshi. Joshi has lost the Lok Sabha elections twice in a row. Kale has lost both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections. Muzaffar Hussain has been defeated in three elections. If Delhi decides not to give tickets to the candidates who lost in the forthcoming elections, other names could be considered, otherwise, Mohan Joshi is likely to get the nomination.

Loyalists loved by both Chavan camps

Former Chief Minister and Public Works Minister Ashok Chavan has strongly recommended the name of his close confidante D P Sawant. Sawant was the Minister of State in Chavan’s cabinet. Ashok Chavan’s second choice is Sachin Sawant who is the spokesperson of the party and tries to forcefully argue party stand. Sachin Sawant  has often tried to get the opposition in trouble on various issues. However, both the Sawant’s have lost the Assembly elections once. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has recommended the name of Rajendra Mulak, an old aide in his cabinet and a close associate from Nagpur.

Raut-Wasnik’s lobbying too

The name of Satish Chaturvedi has been recommended by Dr Nitin Raut, the state’s energy minister, who is known to be in the good books of former national president Rahul Gandhi. However, Chaturvedi was suspended from the party by the then state president Ashok Chavan. Incumbent state president Balasaheb Thorat re-inducted him into the party fold. His son Dushyant has already been elected to the legislative council on a Shiv Sena ticket in February earlier this year. Both the issues of the re-entry into the party fold and the identity of the party of his son (Shiv Sena), are likely to go against Chaturvedi.

Political sources argued that with four party ministers from Vidarbha, Dr Raut, Vijay Wadettiwar, Yashomati Thakur and Sunil Kedar already inducted in the state cabinet, there is no possibility of the party considering another candidate from Vidarbha for the council elections.

All India Congress Committee general secretary and Sonia Gandhi’s confidante, Mukul Vasnik has recommended the name of former minister Suresh Shetty. Shetty, who is known to be loyalist of the Gurudas Kamat camp, has not been seen lobbying much for himself in the last five years.

Ahmed Patel-Satav not to be left behind

It is reliably learnt that Ahmad Patel recommended the name of former minister Naseem Khan. It is understood that Patel also has mentioned the name of Baba Siddiqui. Naseem Khan, was a Minister of State and then a Cabinet Minister almost 10 years ago. During his previous stints as a minister Khan could not accomplish the responsibility of getting other Congress candidates elected and also could not retain his own seat. The resentment against him in the constituency could deprive him of this opportunity.

It is understood that Rajeev Satav, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha has recommended the name of Harshvardhan Sapkal. Sapkal had lost the 2019 assembly elections from the Buldhana constituency. Manikrao Thakre, former state president and former deputy chairman of the council, is also keen and is trying hard for his own nomination.

Why not a Muslim candidate this time?

It is highly unlikely that the party high command in New Delhi will give candidature to a Muslim or Dalit candidate this time. In 2018, the party had given a chance to Sharad Ranapise, a leader of the Dalit community, in the Legislative Council. At the same time, Wajahat Mirza, a leader of the Muslim community has been elected to the upper house in the state legislature.

In last year’s (2019) assembly elections, three candidates from the Muslim community were elected from Mumbai. Out of these, Aslam Shaikh was given the post of Cabinet Minister and Guardian Minister of Mumbai. Amin Patel was elected for the third time while Baba Siddiqui’s son Zeeshan Siddiqui was also elected. It is argued by party sources that this time the aspirations of the community will not be considered as the party has given full support to the Muslim community.