The political climate in Maharashtra remains charged following the Lok Sabha election, with the upcoming election for four Graduates and Teachers Members of Legislative Council (MLC) seats carrying considerable weight. This scenario will persist until the Assembly elections for 288 constituencies are scheduled in October.
On Wednesday, over 4.29 lakh voters will decide the fate of 55 candidates for the biennial elections to the Mumbai Graduates, Mumbai Teachers, Nashik Teachers and Konkan Graduates constituencies in the upper house of the State legislature with results expected on July 1.
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The Legislative Council currently comprises 78 seats; BJP holds 22, Shiv Sena (undivided) 11, NCP (undivided) nine, and Congress eight seats. Independents and smaller parties holds the rest, with 21 seats vacant due to recent political realignments.
In the Mumbai Graduates constituency, the main contenders among the eight candidates are former State minister Anil Parab of Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP’s Kiran Shelar. There are 1.20 lakh eligible voters in this constituency, comprising over 71,000 men, more than 49,000 women and six others. The need for these elections arises as the current members’ terms are set to expire in July.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Parab said that of 1.20 lakh voters, 65,000 to 70,000 were registered through their party. “The results depend on the voters’ turnout. We request the voters to step and exercise their franchise. I have campaigned in schools, colleges and other institutions and shared my progress report and vision for the constituency,” the Uddhav Thackeray loyalist said.
He also alleged that 10,000 to 12,000 voters registered by his party are missing from the final voter list, and accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of political interference in its operations. He claimed that names registered by rival parties have been included in the list.
“We suspect that the deliberate exclusion of 10,000 to 12,000 names from our enrolled voters’ list in the supplementary list is intentional,” Mr. Parab said.
In the Mumbai Teachers constituency, 13 candidates, including Shiv Sena (UBT)’s J.M. Abhayankar and NCP’s Shivaji Nalawade, are vying for the seat, which has over 15,000 voters, including 11,800 women and 3,953 men. The BJP is backing independent candidate Shivnath Darade and the Shiv Sena is supporting independent nominee Shivaji Shendge.
Konkan Graduates constituency will witness a direct contest between BJP’s MLC Niranjan Davkhare and Congress candidate Ramesh Keer, among 13 candidates. This constituency has 2.23 lakh eligible voters, including 1.27 lakh men, 95,000 women, and 28 others.
Meanwhile, the Nashik Teachers constituency features 21 candidates, including Sena (UBT)’s Sandeep Gulve, rival Shiv Sena’s Kishore Darade and independent candidate Vivek Kolhe. This has over 69,000 eligible voters, including 46,000 male voters and over 22,000 female.
Meanwhile, the State will witness another round of MLC polls for 11 seats on July 12. For these 11 seats, MLAs will vote to elect the MLCs. This will be the first MLC election after the Shiv Sena and NCP split.
