Maharashtra MLC elections: Voting underway for polls to 12 seats

Voting began on Thursday for elections to 12 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats from local authorities constituencies with the ruling Mahayuti alliance aiming to consolidate its strength after already securing five seats unopposedPolling commenced at 8 am and will continue until 4 pm Members of local selfgovernment bodies including municipal corporations municipal councils nagar panchayats and zilla parishads are eligible to vote in these electionsAlthough elections were originally scheduled for 17 seats contests are being held in only 12 constituencies after candidates backed by the ruling alliance were elected unopposed in five seatsMahayuti secures five seats without contestThe BJPled Mahayuti alliance comprising the BJP Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena and the NCP faction headed by Sunetra Pawar has already secured five victories before pollingBJP candidate Arun Lakhani was elected unopposed from the WardhaChandrapurGadchiroli constituency NCP nominees Vikram Kakade and Aniket Tatkare won unopposed from Pune and RaigadRatnagiriSindhudurg respectivelyShiv Sena candidates Ravindra Phatak from Thane and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal also secured uncontested victoriesThese wins have given the ruling alliance an early advantage ahead of the counting process scheduled for June 22SataraSangli contest draws attentionOne of the most closely watched contests is in the SataraSangli constituency where BJP candidate Dhairyasheel Kadam is facing NCP Sharad Pawar faction nominee Abhaysinh JagtapThe seat had witnessed friction within the Mahayuti alliance after some leaders from the Shiv Sena expressed reservations over the distribution of seats among alliance partnersMaharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai publicly voiced concerns about coordination among alliance partners during local body elections and had skipped a coordination meeting related to the council pollsSpeculation over a split in alliance votes however subsided after Shiv Sena rebel leader Tanajirao Patil withdrew from the contest resulting in a direct fight between the two main candidatesOpposition faces setbacks in several constituenciesThe Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA suffered setbacks after a series of candidate withdrawals in different constituenciesIn Amravati Congress candidate Harshjit Deshmukh withdrew from the contest citing health reasons However senior Congress leader Yashomati Thakur alleged that rival political forces had influenced the decisionDifferences also surfaced between the Congress and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi over support for VBA candidate Neelesh VishwakarmaSeveral Opposition candidates withdrew nominations in other constituencies as well Shiv Sena UBT candidate Bal Mane withdrew from the Konkan seat while NCP SP nominee Shrikant Patil withdrew from Pune clearing the way for Vikram Kakades unopposed victorySimilarly Shiv Sena UBT candidate Deoyani Patil Dongaonkar withdrew from the AurangabadJalna constituency while Congress candidates Shailesh Agrawal and Sahebrao Kamble withdrew from WardhaChandrapurGadchiroli and Yavatmal respectivelyNashik seat witnesses alliance challengeThe Nashik constituency emerged as another challenge for the ruling alliance after BJP leader Gokul Gite entered the contest as an Independent candidate against Mahayutis official nominee Narendra Darade of the Shiv SenaThe development prompted intervention from senior leaders including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde BJP minister Girish Mahajan and Shiv Sena minister Uday SamantFollowing multiple rounds of discussions Gite agreed to halt his campaign However his name remained on the ballot paper as the deadline for withdrawal had already passedThe episode highlighted the challenges of managing alliance dynamics in closely contested constituenciesKey constituencies and voter strengthIn Nanded three candidates are contesting the election from the local authorities constituency A total of 452 voters are eligible to cast their votes including members of the NandedWaghala Municipal Corporation and representatives of municipal councils and nagar panchayats across the districtMeanwhile the OsmanabadLaturBeed constituency is witnessing a direct contest between BJP candidate Basavaraj Patil Murumkar and Congress nominee Mahesh Deshmukh The constituency has an electorate of 367 votersFocus on June 22 countingThe Legislative Council elections are being viewed as an important political test for both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi ahead of future electoral battles in MaharashtraWhile the ruling alliance enters the contest with five seats already secured the remaining 12 constituencies will determine the extent of its dominance in the Upper HouseThe Opposition has alleged that money power and political pressure played a role in several candidate withdrawals a charge strongly denied by Mahayuti leadersWith polling underway across the state all eyes are now on the counting of votes scheduled for June 22 which will reveal whether the ruling alliance can further strengthen its position in the Maharashtra Legislative CouncilWith inputs from Agencies