In Maharashtra, there has been a clash between the BJP and the NCP-winning faction over the candidature of former minister Nawab Malik from the Mahayuti. NCP Ajit faction has fielded Nawab Malik from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar seat.
On behalf of Mahayuti, the seat has been given to Shiv Sena's Shinde group and Suresh Patil has been made its candidate. The BJP has also backed Patil and said it will not campaign for Malik.
Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar said on Wednesday – Our party's stance is clear. Earlier also we were against the candidature of Nawab Malik. Still would not support him, as his link with Dawood Ibrahim came to light.
The NCP has also given ticket to Nawab Malik's daughter Sana Malik, who is also the official candidate of the Mahayuti, from Anushaktinagar seat. Ashish said that BJP has no problem with Sana's candidature. The party will definitely support him.
Nawab Malik filed his nomination at around 2:30 pm on Tuesday.
BJP said- BJP's stance on people connected with Dawood was already clear. Mumbai BJP president Ashish said – We have repeatedly made our stand clear about Dawood Ibrahim and those associated with him. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has said this before and now I am also saying the same. There is no question of campaigning for Nawab Malik. We believe that all coalition partners have the right to announce their candidates, but BJP's stance on Nawab Malik is clear.
Nawab also filed his candidature as an independent candidate Nawab Malik filed two papers on October 29, the last day of nomination. He said on Tuesday, I filed nomination as NCP candidate. He also filed as an independent candidate, but the party sent the AB form and we submitted the AB form at 2.55 pm. Now I am the official candidate of NCP.
BJP and Ajith's NCP face each other in Katol seat too NCP's Ajith and BJP are also facing each other on Katol assembly seat. In fact, before the split in NCP, former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh became MLA from this seat. However, Deshmukh supported Sharad Pawar when the party split.
Due to this BJP was claiming this seat. At the same time, Ajith still considered it a seat won by the NCP. As a result both of them fielded candidates. BJP has given ticket to Charan Singh Thakur while NCP has given ticket to Naresh Arsade.
A look at Maharashtra's political equation…
In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP fell from 23 to 9 seats Out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 30 seats and the NDA 17 seats. In which BJP got 9 seats, Shiv Sena got 7 seats and NCP got only 1 seat. BJP has lost 23 seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NDA won 41 seats compared to 42 seats in 2014.
Estimated loss of BJP according to Lok Sabha Elections If the Maharashtra Assembly elections follow the same trend as the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP will suffer. BJP will be reduced to around 60 seats. At the same time, an opposition coalition survey projected MVA to get 160 seats. Maratha movement is the biggest challenge for BJP. Apart from this, people sympathize with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar after the sabotage in Shiv Sena and NCP.
Assembly Elections- 2019
- In 2019, there was a BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. BJP won 105 and Shiv Sena 56 seats. NCP got 54 seats and Congress got 44 seats from the alliance. BJP-Shiv Sena could have easily come to power, but differences broke the alliance.
- On 23 November 2019, Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister. However, both resigned on November 26 before the majority test.
- On 28 November, Shiv Sena (undivided), NCP (undivided) and Congress' Mahavikas Aghadi came to power.
- After this, there was a split between the Shiv Sena (undivided) and the NCP (undivided) and these two parties split into four factions. However, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray gained in the Lok Sabha elections. Now the Assembly elections are also being held on this background.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
