The Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which got the bill on Maratha reservation passed in the just-concluded winter session of the Assembly, will now face the ground impact of this decision in the elections to the Dhule and Ahmednagar civic bodies.
Both municipalities go to polls on Sunday, December 9, and the results will be declared on December 10.
While a majority of the candidates in the 68-seat Ahmednagar civic body are from the Maratha community, the scene is markedly different in Dhule where several OBC candidates are pitted against Maratha nominees.
The battle for the 74-seat Dhule Municipal Corporation is particularly complex as it pits the faction of Subhash Bhamre, the local BJP MP, who is also the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Defence, against that of rebel BJP legislator Anil Gote, who recently floated his own party Lok Sangram.
Mr. Gote, a bitter rival of Mr. Bhamre, is upset at the induction of alleged criminals into the BJP.
Stepping into this ‘BJP versus BJP’ stand-off is the Shiv Sena, the ruling party’s disgruntled ally at the Centre and the State, which has promptly lent support to Mr. Gote’s faction.
The polls are also reflective of the shifting alliances in the fluid pre-Parliamentary and Assembly poll scenario in the State.
While the NCP currently heads the Dhule civic body, it has joined hands with its estranged ally, the Congress, to queer the BJP’s pitch.
The BJP’s ascendancy in the district, following the 2014 polls, has led to a decline in political fortunes of both the NCP and the Congress.
In a bid to stop the BJP from seizing power, sources say that both parties have extended covert support to Mr. Gote’s faction.
Further complicating the equation is the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which, for the first time, has fielded candidates from 13 seats with an eye on the Muslim votes.
Of the 356 candidates in the fray, the BJP, which is contesting 62 of the 74 seats, lacks a Muslim face unlike all the opposition parties. The Congress and NCP are together contesting 68 seats, while Lok Sangram has fielded 67 candidates. The Sena has fielded 47 candidates.
