All is not well in MVA as Uddhav sends ultimatum to Congress

Mumbai, May 10: He wanted to be the Chief Minister at ease. And he had a couple of chances earlier, but he missed the bus then for reasons best known to him. He expected the Governor to nominate him to the Upper House of the State legislature so that he could easily continue to head the three-wheeler government of the MVA.

Sensing troubles in that process, he approached the Prime Minister whom he criticized at every first opportunity he could grab, to bail him out from this ‘Constitutional crisis’ by asking the Election Commission to hold biennial elections to the Upper House. The PM showing magnanimity of heart asked the poll panel to conduct elections only in Maharashtra. The poll panel obliged and issued the notification.

And here began the real game!

Elections to nine vacant seats of state Vidhan Parishad are to be held on May 21 and the last date for filing of nomination papers is May 11. The winning quota is 29 per candidate. The BJP, with its strength of 105 plus allies and ‘friends’ calculated that it could win 4 seats with some ‘adjustments’ and fielded equal candidates.

The NCP and Shiv Sena have a quota of two seats each while the Congress, the third partner in the MVA has one seat. The NCP and Sena announced their candidates. However, the Congress insisted on contesting two seats and announced the candidature of two of its nominees.

This move by Congress made all the difference and aroused the curiosity of the political observers. The election to five seats could have been an easy affair but the sixth seat announced by the Congress party has evoked displeasure of the Shiv Sena.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is left with no alternative but to test his luck at the election to continue to the post, has darted a salvo at the Congress leader and Revenue Minister in his cabinet Balasaheb Thorat that if the Congress were to press for the sixth candidate he would not contest the election.

Thorat, on the other hand, has expressed that his party would not withdraw its sixth candidate inviting the displeasure of the Shiv Sena.

Uddhav Thackeray had insisted that election should be unopposed as the state is passing through critical times due to coronavirus pandemic. This could have been possible had there been five candidates in the fray. But Congress put a spike in Uddhav’s wish leading to a tense atmosphere in the MVA.