Maha polls: Nominations start on Tuesday, parties burn midnight oil to finalise candidates

BILKULONLINE
By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, Oct 21: As the process for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections officially kicks off from Tuesday (October 22), all political parties from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and ruling combine MahaYuti are burning the midnight oil to finalise their lists of candidates.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) notification will be issued on Tuesday opening the floodgates for filing nominations till the last date, October 29. This would include the official candidates from the ruling and opposition alliances, smaller parties, other blocs like Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, Independents, rebels, pressure-groups like the Marathas, dummies, vote-splitters and frivolous candidates. The MahaYuti ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its first list of 99 candidates while the lists of the others — Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party are eagerly awaited. On the other side, the MVA of Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-Nationalist Congress Party (SP) is in the grip of a veritable civil war over seat-sharing that threatens to push the alliance on the brink.

The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) are reported to be fighting over some 20 seats with NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar using all his political skills of over 55-years to fire-fight and save the MVA from tottering. Besides the seat-sharing squabbles, the MVA is also struggling to keep its flock together, warding off potential rebels when rejected or dejected bigwigs from other parties drop in to meet top leaders and hop onto their side with hopes of getting a prized ticket.

The cups of woes are full even on the MahaYuti side with similar stories of turncoats, fence-sitters and party-hoppers aplenty that could seriously hamper the prospects of the official candidates in the crucial elections. As per the ECI schedules announced last week, the poll notification will be issued on Tuesday (October 22) with the last date for filing nominations (October 29) followed by the scrutiny of applications (November 3), the last date for withdrawal (November 4), with election day (November 20) and counting of votes (November 23).

The election heat and dust has already started in some constituencies which would become a full-fledged fortnight-long cacophony all over Maharashtra after November 4, when candidates start wooing voters unabashedly to select them as their ‘law-maker’ for the next five years. The tenure of the current Assembly expires on November 26, and that would leave political parties with a window of barely 48 hours to cobble up and form a viable government. Failing this, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and other leaders apprehend that the Centre might impose President’s Rule.

The situation is dicey for both the ruling and opposition alliances, as well as other groups with no clarity on who would be projected as the ‘CM-face’ for the polls, with multiple choices that may be left to the voters’ imagination. Taking jibes at each other, the MVA has asked the MahaYuti to first declare its CM candidate, while a smug MahaYuti has called upon the MVA to announce its ‘Leader of Opposition’ nominee. The MVA leaders like Congress’ Nana F. Patole and Sharad Pawar have said that “winning the elections is top priority and the CM can be named later,” while some in the MahaYuti claim that the incumbent CM Eknath Shinde would continue, but others have private doubts. Unlike 2019, this time the state is going to witness a ‘mega-khichdi’ of candidates from multiple parties jostling for votes.

They comprise the three main parties of the MahaYuti and MVA, plus their individual supporting parties, considered the most credible among all other contenders. There is the VBA and its allies contesting a large number of seats, Maratha leader Manoj Jarange-Patil threatening to field candidates in many constituencies who could be vote-breakers, smaller parties, local outfits, a horde of likely rebels or turncoats, Independents and non-serious contestants who may play spoilsport.