Council polls: Danve to be Sena (UBT) candidate; ally Congress says it too will enter the fray

Fissures within the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA became evident on Wednesday with both the Shiv Sena UBT and Congress announcing that they will field candidates for the lone seat the opposition can win in the next months Maharashtra legislative council elections.

Fissures within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) became evident on Wednesday with both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress announcing that they will field candidates for the lone seat the opposition can win in the next month's Maharashtra legislative council elections. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray stated that party leader Ambadas Danve will be its nominee. Nine members of the Upper House of the state legislature, including Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, are retiring on May 13, but the MVA alliance is in a position to win only one of the seats. The announcement by Aaditya ruled out the possibility that Uddhav Thackeray will seek re-election. ''Uddhav saheb has decided that Ambadas Danve will be the party's candidate,'' Aaditya Thackeray told reporters here. Soon after Thackeray's announcement, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said his party too will field a candidate, though he did not announce any name. The Congress was keen on contesting the council polls but had shown willingness to support Uddhav Thackeray in case he contested. The party is said to be upset over having to forgo a Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra last month as the opposition supported the candidature of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar. Danve, who hails from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was the leader of opposition in the council from 2022 to 2025. ''I am the joint candidate of the MVA which comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), Samajwadi Party and CPI(M),'' he told reporters. Polling for the nine seats will be held on May 12, and counting of votes will take place the same day. The deadline for nomination filing is 3 pm on April 30. The ruling BJP has nominated five candidates -- Pramod Jathar, Sunil Vinayak Karjatkar, Madhavi Naik, Sanjay Natthuji Bhende and Vivek Bipindada Kolhe. It has also fielded Pradnya Rajeev Satav for the bypoll to one seat. Its allies Shiv Sena and the NCP are yet to announce their candidates.