BJP, MVA woo independents as CM race heats up ahead of results

A day before the results BJPMahayuti and MVA reached out to prospective winners from among independents and fronts Of these Parivartan Mahashakti said it was approached by both alliances Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi said it will support the alliance that can form the government The BJP which has the highest number of rebels about 40 has deputed half a dozen leaders to deal with the winnersSenior leaders will directly negotiate with the fronts that win multiple seats In MVA too the leadership has taken upon itself to be in touch with those who they want to support the Oppositions number game The Congress has the secondhighest number of rebels about 32 followed by the Sena UBT8 NCP SP5 and Shinde Sena 1 Not all are expected to win but whoever wins will be a prize catch for those who get himher to supportDCM Devendra Fadnavis CM Eknath Shinde and DCM Ajit Pawar at a press conference File picShadab KhanIn Maharashtrarsquos 288member Assembly 145 MLAs are needed to form the government However a strength of more than the half mark is considered best for stabilising the government In the past five years the BJP and undivided Sena had together won more than 145 MLAs in 2019 The subsequent short government fell because it did not garner a majority The MVA came into existence to form a government with almost 170 MLAs It also collapsed because of the revolt in Sena The ShindeFadnavis combine also managed the MVArsquos number which was further strengthened by the NCP splinterrsquos inclusion in 2023 In the current Assembly there are 13 independentsThe existing coalitions have some small parties with them in their respective prepoll pacts but some have stayed away from the principal parties The small partiesfronts that have been winning a couple of seats every election are on the radar of the ruling and Opposition parties Parivartan Mahashakti constituent Bacchu Kadu is one such sitting MLA Kadursquos Prahar Janashakti Party has one more MLA in the outgoing House Kadu and his other candidates are in the fray this election Farmersrsquo leader Raju Shettirsquos Swabhimani Paksha has fielded two candidates Currently it has one MLAKadu said he was contacted by both alliances but he had not taken any decision yet ldquoWe will decide once the result trends start coming in tomorrowrdquo he said adding that he would rather make his government rather than supporting others Kadu said he was also in touch with others because his party was likely to win fourfive seats ldquoOur third front will win at least 1015 seats The workers are very much excitedrdquo he addedMVA leaders Nana Patole Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray at a press conference File picSatej ShindeKadu was a minister in the MVA government and later supported Eknath Shindersquos rebellion He was among the MLAs who were taken to Gujarat and Assam in the wake of the Sena split in 2022 However he distanced himself from Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha elections and caused a defeat of BJPrsquos Navneet Rana in Amravati He formed a third front with Shetti and Chhatrapati Sambhajirsquos Maharashtra Swarajya Party for the Assembly electionsVanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar said on social media that his party would support the party alliance that can form the government ldquoIf VBA gets the numbers tomorrow to support a party or an alliance to form the government in Maharashtra we will choose to be with one who can form the government We will choose power Hum satta me rahna chunengerdquo he posted on lsquoXrsquo on FridayVBA is contesting 200 of a total of 288 Assembly seats It hasnrsquot managed to win a single Lok Sabha or Assembly seat ever since its inception in 2018 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which is contesting 125 seats already made its intentions of supporting the BJP very clear though it has fought against Mahayuti AIMIM which has two sitting MLAs has candidates in 17 constituencies Barring the Bahujan Samaj Party contesting 237 seats all others are likely to win a couple of seats each AIMIM has always been with the nonBJP alliance in the House Hitendra Thakurled Bahujan Vikas Aghadi that has three MLAs currently and if it wins the same number or even less in 2024 will also play a crucial role in a necktoneck situationNo tussle over CMCongress incharge General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala played down a verbal war between his party colleague Nana Patole and Shiv Sena UBTs Sanjay Raut over the CMs post There is no dispute over the CM post We all will decide after the results he said adding that MVA was all set to win a clear majority to form the next governmentThere is no question of a hung House because the people have supported us The increased voter turnout is an indication of massive support The unrest between certain leaders of Congress and Sena came to the fore Thursday night when the state Congress President Nana Patole skipped the meetings with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad PawarThe backdrop was PatoleRaut verbal duel over claiming the CMs seat Patole had said the Congress would be the single largest party and hence would also have its CM Raut countered it with a remark that in such a case the Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and others in the high command should declare Patoles name for the top jobStatements regarding the CMs job also came from the ruling alliance partners Shiv Sena leaders rooted for Eknath Shinde while BJPs state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule said his party workers wanted Fadnavis to get the job again