In a surprising turn of events on Saturday, the Congress announced two candidates for the May 21 Legislative Council polls, indicating that it is in no mood to let the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) walk away with four out of nine seats unopposed.
While party president Sonia Gandhi had already approved the candidature of Rajesh Rathod, late in the day, State Congress president Balasaheb Thorat announced that Rajkishor alias Papa Modi, the party’s Beed district president, will be its second candidate.
Mr. Rathod hails from Partur in Jalna district and is a three-time zilla parishad member. A Youth Congress worker, he is also a leader of the Banjara community in the region and is the son of former MLA Dhondiram Rathod. His candidature is seen as a relief to the young brigade within the party as the central leadership has decided to trust new faces with leadership roles.
Mr. Modi, meanwhile, is an old-timer who enjoys good relations across parties. Congress’s nomination of Mr. Modi, who hails from the district of BJP leader Pankaja Munde, who is allegedly upset over being denied a ticket, is seen as a warning sign to the opposition party.
The BJP has already announced the names of its four candidates — Gopichand Padalkar, Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil, Pravin Datke and Dr. Ajit Gopchade.
Of the nine seats, which will be filled through elections by MLAs, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party are to get two seats each. Of these, three names are yet to be announced as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be one of the Sena candidates.
Each candidate would require 29 votes to win the poll. Congress with 44 MLAs is sure to win one MLC seat and require 14 more to win the second.
According sources, the party could also be playing a pressure game with its allies; and will ask bigger share in governor-appointee MLC posts to withdraw the second candidate.
It is also being said that in case of 10 candidates, the BJP will have the task of ensuring none of its MLAs cross-vote. With 105 of its own and few independents, the party has touched 114 mark, which is still two short for its fourth candidate to win the poll in case of election. Therefore, the BJP would prefer an unopposed election.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations is May 14, after which the picture will be clear.
