Prior to the Maharashtra bypolls set for February 27, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Congress, is battling internal revolt in two assembly constituencies.
The most recent developments in Chinchwad and Kasba Peth may be a preview of the many difficulties the opposition alliance will likely encounter when they run jointly in the 2019 assembly elections.
Rahul Kalate, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), is running against Vitthal Kate, the NCP’s official candidate for the MVA, in Chinchwad as an Independent.
Similar to this, the MVA in Kasba Peth is facing difficulties due to internal politics in the Congress. In opposition to Ravindra Dhangekar, the official candidate for the party and MVA, Balasaheb Dabhekar of the Congress has filed his nomination as an Independent.
The competing BJP is also encountering difficulties in Kasba Peth, where the party is accused of discriminating against Brahmins by choosing the official candidate from the family of MP Mukta Tilak, whose passing prompted the bypoll. The Brahmin community includes the Tilak family.
Political analysts claim that the byelections show how difficult it will be for the parties to agree on seat distribution for the assembly elections in 2024 and how many seats, like Kasba Peth and Chinchwad, could experience internal unrest.
While the NCP and Shiv Sena leaderships get along well, there are many seats where the two parties have historically competed against one another locally, according to political commentator and former journalist Hemant Desai. “It will be very difficult for parties like the Congress and the Shiv Sena to reach an understanding,” he added.
The success of the MVA depends on how well the party leaders can put a halt to these local uprisings. The BJP will benefit from this.
After the assembly election that year, the MVA was established in November of that year. Since its founding in 1999, the NCP has largely collaborated with the Congress, although the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has long been viewed as the two parties’ ideological and political opponent.
The Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, held 56 seats when the MVA was established, compared to the NCP’s 54 and the Congress’ 44. When the Shiv Sena vertically split in June 2022, Eknath Shinde—then the chief minister—attracted 40 of the party’s 56 MLAs to his camp.
Sanjay Raut, a Rajya Sabha member for the Shiv Sena (UBT), said last month that Uddhav Thackeray had informed NCP leaders of the Shiv Sena’s desire to run in the Chinchwad byelection, which was made necessary by the passing of incumbent BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap. However, the party ultimately chose to support Kate of the NCP as the official candidate for the MVA.
Shiv Sena (UBTKalate, )’s who will run against the MVA candidate as an Independent, said to ThePrint: “I had informed the party leadership that I wish to contest the bypoll, but the party still opted to back the BJP. They (MVA) can try anything to get me to withdraw my nomination, but I won’t give in.
According to the Election Commission, Kalate, the Shiv Sena’s official candidate in 2014, finished in second place with 63,489 votes (EC). When the BJP annexed Chinchwad as part of its coalition with the Shiv Sena, Kalate ran as a rebel candidate in the 2019 election. With 1,12,225 votes, Kalate again came in second place to Jagtap of the BJP and received roughly 40% of the constituency’s total votes, according to the EC figures.
This is a constituency that the NCP dominates, according to NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase who spoke to ThePrint. The municipal corporation is also. While it has recently grown, Shiv Sena (UBT) has never had any standing. However, the Shiv Sena still cannot defeat the NCP’s power in this area.
The leadership of Sena has approved of it. The party leadership may or may not be in agreement with lower-level leaders. Each person has goals.
Ashwini Jagtap, Laxman Jagtap’s widow, has been put forward by the BJP.
When local Shiv Sena leaders led by Rajesh Kshirsagar expressed interest in running in the Kolhapur North bypoll last year, the MVA ran into similar problems because the Congress intended to nominate its candidate as the group’s official representative.
Despite being a Shiv Sena stronghold, the Congress won the seat in the 2019 local elections. However, the MVA was able to quell an internal uprising and secure the support of all parties for the Congress candidate, handing the BJP a humiliating loss. Kshirsagar joined the Shiv Sena’s Shinde camp last year.
Balasaheb Dabhekar of the Congress has challenged Ravindra Dhangekar, the party’s official candidate, by submitting his nomination as an Independent in Kasba Peth.
“I had requested that the party put me up as a candidate. Despite the fact that I have worked for the party for 40 years, the party decided to support someone who has switched parties. Factionalism inside the Congress is to blame for everything, according to Dabhekar, who spoke to ThePrint.
Dhangekar originally belonged to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the unified Shiv Sena, and he served as a corporator for the two organisations five times in the Pune Municipal Corporation. In 2017, he joined the Congress.
A senior Congressman claimed that the party’s selection of Dhangekar, who is renowned for often switching political allegiances, had caused a great deal of dissatisfaction in the Pune unit.
However, a senior party spokesperson named Anant Gadgil stated, “The political climate is in the Congress’ favour. In Kasba Peth, the BJP is beset with its own issues. Without a doubt, we’ll prevail.
