Shiv Sena wins MLC election from Aurangabad-Jalna constituency

In a gain for the Shiv Sena-BJP combine ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls, Sena candidate Ambadas Danve on Thursday won the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) biennial election from the Aurangabad-Jalna local authorities’ constituency.

Mr. Danve coasted to victory by defeating his nearest rival, the Congress’s Baburao Kulkarni, by a comfortable margin of 418 votes. According to election authorities, Mr. Danve polled 524 votes while Mr. Kulkarni could manage only 106.

Before polling, the BJP-Sena had the support of 330 public representatives, the Congress-NCP of 250, while the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM and other independents made up the remaining 77 of the total 657 public representatives from different local self-governing bodies - including co-opted members and panchayat samitis – across Aurangabad and Jalna districts.

Of these, 647 public representatives - 321 male voters and 326 female - had cast their votes in the election that was held on August 19.

At a time when the top Congress-NCP leadership in the State is doddering with defections en masse, Mr. Danve’s win brings to fore the sharp divisions pervading within the camps of both parties.

Cross-voting

The margin of the Sena leader’s win proves that cross-voting was rampant within the Congress-NCP combine, with even several AIMIM representatives supportive of Mr. Danve, who was also backed by the weight of rebel Congress MLA Abdul Sattar and his



followers.

“We [the Sena-BJP] secured only 292 votes, with 40-45 more votes given to us by Independents who assured us of their support…we had intimations that we would also get support from ‘invisible hands’ of certain Congress representatives. As this is a secret ballot, I presume that a number of councillors, corporators and other elected representatives from the Opposition must have voted for me. I am thankful to all them,” said a jubilant Mr. Danve.

In fact, his win was considered a fait accompli as there were clear indications that several elected representatives of the Opposition parties would cast their vote for the candidate from the saffron alliance.

“Elected representatives from local self-governing bodies in Jalna and Aurangabad have now weaned away from the Congress and the NCP and have no faith in their top leadership any more, given the number of defections taking place at the State level from both the parties,” Mr. Danve said before the results.

However, the Congress district leadership in Aurangabad have accused the Sena of ‘buying votes’ with money by putting up representatives in plush hotels.

The win certainly is a boost for the Sena’s – and Mr. Danve’s – prestige in the region as he had been trounced by the BJP’s Prashant Bamb in the 2014 Assembly elections when the two saffron parties contested separately.

Mr. Bamb had beaten Mr. Danve in the contest over the Gangapur Assembly segment in Aurangabad.