Mumbai: Will rebels become a headache for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Mahayuti? This question is doing the rounds in Maharashtra as a large number of rebels have filed their nomination for the Maharashtra Assembly polls.
Voting will be held on November 20 while counting will be held on November 23. Experts say that it will be a challenge to both the alliances - MVA, comprising Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) and Mahayuti, comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, to suppress the rebels.
November 4 is the last date to withdraw the nominations and both the alliances have just a few days left to convince the rebels to take back the nominations. The picture will be clear only after November 4.
Currently, there is a strong rebellion in Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP and NCP led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. There is also a strong rebellion in Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Congress.
If we look at the history, the rebels played an important role in the 1995 Maharashtra Assembly elections. More than 50 candidates contested and won. After that, those rebels joined Shiv Sena and BJP and were part of the government.
Political analyst Jayant Mainkar said, "Look, big leaders like Gopal Shetty have revolted in Mumbai's Borivali. But, basically, Shetty is a Sangh member. To pacify him, a Sangh man will surely go there and convince him or he will get some other position. BJP will be able to cool down the rebels."
"But the BJP will be hit by the rebellion that has happened in Shiv Sena because it seems that those who have revolted in the Mahayuti will not be quiet," Mainkar told ETV Bharat.
He feels that rebels in Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress are not in the mood to listen and, hence MVA may suffer.
Senior BJP leader Gopal Shetty did not get a ticket from the Borivali seat in Mumbai and hence is contesting the polls as an independent candidate against Sanjay Upadhyay.
BJP's Atul Shah rebelled and filed his candidature after Shaina NC filed her nomination papers from Shiv Sena in the Mumbadevi constituency in Mumbai.
Maharshtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal's nephew Sameer Bhujbal rebelled against Shiv Sena candidate Suhas Kande and filed his candidature in the Nandgaon Assembly seat.
Former MP Hina Gavit has rebelled in the Akkalkuwa Constituency. Congress leader Kamal Vyavaye has rebelled in the Kasba Peth constituency in Pune. Manoj Shinde of Congress rebelled in the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency in Thane.
Yayati Naik of NCP (SP) rebelled from Pusad and filed an independent candidature form from the Karanja constituency. Vijay Chowghule of Shiv Sena has rebelled against BJP's Ganesh Naik in the Airoli seat in Navi Mumbai.
In the Belapur seat of Navi Mumbai, Vijay Nahta of Shiv Sena has rebelled and is in the fray as an independent candidate against BJP's Manda Mhatre. In Kalyan, Mahesh Gaikwad of Shiv Sena rebelled against his party and is contesting the polls as an independent candidate against Sulabha Gaikwad of BJP.
In Vikramgad, Prakash Nikam of Shiv Sena is in the fray as an independent candidate against BJP's Harishchandra Bhoye. In Phulambri, Ramesh Pawar of Shiv Sena is pitted against BJP's Anuradha Gaikwad as an independent candidate.
Manish Kalje is in the fray as an independent candidate against BJP's Devendra Kothe in the Solapur seat. In the Pachora seat, BJP leader Amol Shinde rebelled against the saffron party and is contesting the polls as an independent against Kishore Patil of Shiv Sena.
Likewise, BJP leader Vijayraj Shinde rebelled against his party and is in the fray as an independent candidate against Sanjay Gaikwad of Shiv Sena in the Buldani seat. Ditto is the case of Hasmukh Gehlot in the Ovala-Majiwada seat in the Thane district.
BJP leader Sunil Shinde is also in the fray as an independent candidate from the Paithan seat against Shiv Sena's Vilas Bhumar. BJP's Bhaskar Danve has rebelled against his party and it pitted against Shiv Sena's Arjun Khotkar in the Jalna seat as an independent candidate. In the Sillod seat too, Shiv Sena's Abdul Sattar will take on BJP's Sunil Mirkar. In the Sawantwadi seat of coastal Konkan, BJP's Vishal Parab rebelled against his party and is in the fray as an independent nominee against Shiv Sena's Deepak Kesarkar.
BJP's Ramesh Thorat has rebelled against his party and is contesting the polls as an independent candidate against Nitin Pawar in Kalwan. In Karjat, BJP's Kiran Thackeray has rebelled and will be contesting against Shiv Sena's Mahendra Thorve.
BJP's Shirish Chaudhary will be contesting as an independent candidate against NCP nominee Anil Patil in the Amalner seat. BJP leader Dilip Gaikwad has launched a revolt against Sanjay Bansode in Udgir and will be contesting as an independent candidate.
BJP's Ambarish Atram is in the fray as an independent candidate against NCP's Dharmarao Atram. The case of the Mulund constituency is unique as there is an internal rebellion in the MVA as candidates from Congress and NCP(SP) have filed their nominations. Another strange case is the Mankhurd-Shivajinagar seat in Mumbai, where senior NCP leader Nawab Malik is in the fray. The Shiv Sena has fielded Suresh Patil against Malik and BJP has openly said that it will not support Malik due to his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
