Independents, smaller MVA allies keep options open in RS election

Independent and smaller parties are giving the jitters to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of what is expected to be a closely fought battle for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. At least three MVA allies, including independents and smaller parties who had pledged support to the alliance in 2019, have gone public claiming that they had reservations or not yet decided whom to support yet.

On Saturday, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azim Azmi made public a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in which he pointed out that in spite of raising several issues related to the minority community, the MVA government has not addressed any of their concerns in the two and a half years that it has been in power. The letter said that the CM did not reply to any of the earlier letters written to him by Azmi.

People close to the SP said that the party might not vote for the MVA and would abstain from voting for the Shiv Sena's second candidate, Sanjay Pawar. The SP has two votes, of Azmi and of his party colleague Rais Shaikh from Bhiwandi.


Another MVA ally, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), which has three MLAs, has said that it has not yet made up its mind about who to support. BVA leader Hitendra Thakur indicated on Saturday that he is close to all the political parties and that the BJP is not an untouchable party. He said he would make up his mind just before the Rajya Sabha polls. Significantly, on Saturday, the BJP's third candidate, Dhananjay Mahadik, met Thakur to seek his vote.

Independent MLAs have also shown their displeasure with the MVA. Chandrapur MLA Kishor Jorgewar said he is angered with comments about "horse trading" made by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and that if such comments continue, then he would be forced to take a "different" decision. Referring to the claims made by the smaller allies, a Shiv Sena leader said that he believed that this was just a bargaining tactic by the allies and that the concerns raised by them would be addressed and the allies would vote for the MVA during the Rajya Sabha polls.