Setback for MVA as candidates withdraw before Legislative Council election

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faced a major setback as its candidates withdrew their candidature on Thursday, ensuring that the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance wins the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) election virtually unopposed.

Thursday was the last day to withdraw applications for the Legislative Council election, and candidates withdrew their applications by 3 pm.

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Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had announced Bal Mane as its candidate from the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Legislative Council constituency, but he withdrew from the contest on Thursday, after which the Sena expelled him from the party for anti-party activities.

Bal Mane was originally a BJP leader. However, during the 2024 assembly elections, he left the BJP and publicly joined the Thackeray group. He contested the assembly elections from Ratnagiri against Cabinet Minister Uday Samant from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, but he had to face defeat in that election. After that, he was once again brought into the election fray through the Legislative Council. However, his withdrawal before the voting has completely changed the political equations in Konkan

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s Devyani Dongaonkar was nominated from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna Legislative Council constituency, but she suddenly withdrew her candidature, after which the party expelled Devyani Dongaonkar and her husband, Krishna Dongaonkar.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Anil Kadam, who was supposed to be the candidate from the Nashik Legislative Council constituency, withdrew from the contest and did not file his application.

Congress candidate Sahebrao Kamble, who was nominated by the Congress to contest from the Yavatmal Legislative Council, withdrew from the election.

Reacting to these developments, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleged here on Thursday that, “The ruling party (BJP) has spent a whopping Rs 150 crore to get our candidates to withdraw their applications. One of our candidates was given Rs 25 crore to withdraw”.

“From the information I have so far, the ruling party is adamant to ensure that elections are held unopposed, and many unscrupulous methods have been adopted to achieve this. A large number of attempts were made to buy off opposition candidates, and it succeeded in some places,” Sanjay Raut said.

“Yesterday (Wednesday), such transactions took place at Hotel Sofitel in Mumbai, located in the Bandra Kurla Complex. After that, our candidate in Konkan (Bal Mane) withdrew. Our candidate withdrew in Sambhajinagar. The person who fixed the deal informed us. The process of purchasing candidates is going on in Maharashtra. I think this is a way of destroying the state and the country. This is extremely dangerous for democracy,” Sanjay Raut said.

“The prices of horses were fixed only to withdraw their candidatures. I am not shocked at all. I expected this. That is why I kept saying from the beginning that this election is not ours. This election is not for party workers. This election is for those who can spend cash, do horse-trading, and buy candidates and votes. This is not a democracy. This was my honest opinion, and I tried to present my opinion many times before the party. I was afraid that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would get discredited due to this, especially my party,” Sanjay Raut said.

Reacting to the withdrawal of MVA candidates from the poll fray, Maharashtra State Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal said, “Despite the BJP’s power everywhere, it is still trampling upon democratic values in its desire for more power. Offers of crores of rupees have been made to opposition candidates in order to ensure that Legislative Council elections are won unopposed. The BJP has used all means to get candidates to withdraw nominations, putting aside all morality. The BJP does not want democracy. It wants a ‘nomination system’ instead of elections”.

“Voters of Legislative Council elections are the elected representatives in the local self-government bodies, and it is a limited electorate. But in this election too, the ruling alliance has openly played the game of throwing money and enjoying the spectacle. There has been a huge distribution of money by the ruling party. The BJP and the Election Commission are in an unholy alliance. This picture is not good for democracy,” Sapkal said.