Will rebels upset Mahayuti, MVA poll plans in Maha?

Major political parties in Maharashtra are facing rebellion in their ranks as party workers denied tickets have defied their leaderships and filed nominations for the assembly polls, posing a headache for the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

IMAGE: BJP rebel candidate from Borivali assembly seat Gopal Shetty waves to the supporters during the nomination filing roadshow for the Maharashtra assembly elections, in Mumbai, October 29, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

October 29 was the last date for filing nominations for the November 20 polls to the 288-member state assembly and the papers of candidates will be scrutinised on October 30.

November 4 is the last date for withdrawal of candidatures and after that a clear picture will emerge on the number of rebels still left in the fray.

If rebels decide to dig in their heels, they will pose a significant challenge for official candidates and potentially upset the poll arithmetic of main contenders for power, Mahayuti and MVA, who appear to be locked in a close fight.

The Mahayuti consists of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and deputy CM Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, while the opposition MVA comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and NCP-Sharadchandra Prasad.

The BJP, which has fielded the highest number of candidates among the major parties, is struggling to manage possible damage from rebels in Mumbai as well as in other parts of the state.

Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai's Borivali assembly constituency.

Shetty represented this assembly constituency in 2004 and 2009 and won the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North in both 2014 and 2019.

The BJP chose to field Vinod Tawde, now its general secretary, in 2014 and Sunil Rane in 2019 from Borivali and neither of them were local candidates.

While both managed to win the seat, local party members, including Shetty, grew uneasy with the decision to "impose" candidates without consulting them, noted a BJP functionary.

Shetty faced a setback when he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket in 2024, making way for Piyush Goyal, the Union commerce minister.

Although many anticipated that Shetty would be fielded from Borivali, the BJP opted for Upadhyay instead.

Despite efforts from Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar and MLA Yogesh Sagar to persuade him to reconsider his decision to contest polls, Shetty stood his ground and filed his nomination.

Another local BJP leader, Atul Shah, has submitted his nominations from Mumbadevi in Mumbai city, where the party's national spokesperson Shaina NC, is the official candidate of ally Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena-UBT, led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray, had announced the candidature of Kishanchand Tanwani from the Aurangabad Central constituency in central Maharashtra.

However, Tanwani withdrew his candidature and extended support to Pradeep Jaiswal, the candidate of the Shiv Sena headed by Thackeray's rival, Chief Minister Shinde.

In Chandrapur district, the BJP has fielded Devrao Bhongale from the Rajura constituency. Upset with the decision, two former MLAs of the BJP -- Sanjay Dhote and Sudarshan Nimkar -- have filed their nominations as independent candidates.

According to political observer Abhay Deshpande, the NCP's entry in the ruling coalition has posed challenges for the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

"Assembly elections are generally contested on image of candidates. Both sides (Mahayuti and MVA) have at least three major political parties, and it is evident each party has got a limited number of seats to contest. On the top of it, the BJP and the Shiv Sena joining hands with their traditional rival NCP posed a huge challenge on the ground for their dedicated party workers," he noted.

Then there are cases where allied parties have put up candidates against each other.

For example, in the Solapur South constituency, the Congress nominated Dilip Mane but did not give him official nominee status, while its partner Shiv Sena-UBT has given ticket to Amar Patil.

Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination as an independent candidate, Mane said, "I was told that the AB form from the Congress will be given to me. It never came so I decided to file my nomination as an independent candidate."

Form A and B denotes that a certain candidate has been approved by a political party and should be allotted the election symbol of that party.

In Solapur district's Pandharpur-Mangalwedha constituency, the Congress and its ally NCP-SP have fielded their respective candidates.

The Peasants and Workers Party is a constituent of the MVA still its candidate Babasaheb Deshmukh has filed his nomination against the Shiv Sena-UBT nominee in the Sangola constituency in Solapur district.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP is also facing rebels. NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal's nephew Sameer has filed his nomination as an independent candidate from the Nandgaon assembly constituency in Nashik district. He is challenging Shiv Sena candidate and incumbent MLA Suhas Kande.

NCP's Nashik city unit president Ranjan Thakre has also filed his nomination as an independent against sitting BJP MLA Devyani Pharande.

Former Union minister Raosaheb Danve's brother Bhaskar has rebelled and filed nomination against Shiv Sena nominee Arjun Khotkar in the Jalna segment.

In Nagpur district, BJP's sitting MLA Krishna Khopde is being challenged by NCP rebel Abha Pande in Nagpur East.