On the eve of Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, NCP candidate Eknath Khadse on Sunday met BVA leader and Vasai MLA Hitendra Thakur and supported his party in a tough fight between the opposition BJP and the Shiv Sena-led tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). sought. ,
Recently, candidates of the NCP, Congress and BJP had separately met Thakur to support the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi in the June 20 elections, which has three MLAs in the assembly, for which eleven candidates are in the fray. ten seats.
Later, speaking to reporters at Thakur’s office premises, Khadse admitted that he had sought BVA votes in the elections. “I have known Hitendra Thakur for more than 32 years. We share good relations. We know each other beyond politics. Today, we discussed family matters and did not talk much about politics,” he said. Khadse said whom to vote for is the prerogative of Thakur.
“I hope he will take the right decision,” Khadse said. Thakur referred to various issues in his constituency during the discussion. Khadse also claimed that several MLAs of his parent party BJP, whom he had quit last year, are his supporters.
He said that some MLAs (in BJP) are in touch with him, but they will not cross party limits to vote for him in the MLC elections. “Not only two MLAs in Jalgaon, but many (MLAs) in BJP also support me. I had helped many people get tickets to contest elections. I also helped many MLAs get a place in the cabinet. Many of them love me,” he claimed. Khadse said the MVA – which includes Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – will win all the six seats on which it is contesting.
Thakur is firm on BVA’s stand in the elections. The MLAs form the electoral college for the MLC elections. The effective strength of the 288-member Maharashtra Sadan came down to 285 after the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke, while two NCP MLAs – Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh – are currently in jail and not allowed to vote by the High Court.
Small parties and independents have 25 MLAs in their account. The quota of first preference votes per candidate to win the MLC election is 26.
The BJP has 106 MLAs in the house, Shiv Sena-55, Congress-44 and NCP-52. Given its strength in the assembly, the BJP may field four out of the five candidates, two each for the Shiv Sena and NCP and one for the Congress.
A total of 11 candidates are in the fray for the 10 council seats, with MVA allies – Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – fielding two candidates each. BJP has nominated five candidates.
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