Mumbai: MVA Finalises 15 Of 17 Council Seats; Congress Cries Foul Over ‘Poaching’
“The BJP is involved in horse-trading, massive misuse of power and money and poaching of corporators in the Vidhan Parishad elections": Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal
MUMBAI: After several deliberations, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties have reached a consensus on 15 out of 17 Vidhan Parishad seats, for which elections will be held on June 18. Congress, who is contesting the highest eight of the 17 seats, has accused the ruling BJP of “using money power” to influence the polls.
“The BJP is involved in horse-trading, massive misuse of power and money and poaching of corporators in the Vidhan Parishad elections. Corporators are being lured with advance payments, and elections are being fought with money power,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal.
“Opposition corporators are allegedly being poached, and advances of Rs five lakh each are reportedly being paid. Even among the ruling allies, poaching is taking place. The BJP-led Mahayuti has turned elections into a marketplace for horse-trading,” he added.
Sapkal’s allegations have come amidst the reports of 23 Congress corporators from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts going untraceable. The Congress has accused the BJP of using financial inducements to engineer defections.
Meanwhile, Sapkal stated that the Congress party will contest the Nagpur, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Amravati, Ahilyanagar, Solapur and Dharashiv-Latur-Beed seats. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) will contest the Pune, Thane and Sangli-Satara seats, while Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest the Raigad, Jalgaon, Parbhani-Hingoli and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seats.
The ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena Mahayuti alliance has yet to announce its seat-sharing formula. According to sources, discussions within the Mahayuti coalition are in final stages, as 16 of the 17 seats have been decided while the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna seat remains a bone of contention. The BJP is likely to contest 10 or 11 seats, the Shiv Sena four and the NCP two, the sources said.
June 1 is the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 2, the last date for withdrawal is June 4, and polling will be held on June 18. Votes will be counted on June 22.
