Ganesh Kendale
MUMBAI: Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday acknowledged the problem posed by rebel candidates, saying there is a large number of them in all parties. “Our efforts will be to persuade them to withdraw (from the fray),” he told reporters in Mumbai.
When the MCC was announced, the Mahayuti coordination committee had announced that it would set up similar committees in every assembly constituency with representatives from all three parties. This was done to ensure that those not getting tickets could be persuaded not to rebel. However, the committees don’t seem to have worked.
One of the biggest rebellions that has emerged is in Mumbai, with former MP Gopal Shetty raising the issue of locals versus outsiders within the party. Shetty has affirmed he will fight the polls as an Independent, although party functionaries are confident that they will be able to persuade him to pull out.
BJP succeeded in ensuring that former MLAs from south Mumbai Raj Purohit and Atul Shah did not file papers as Independents. In Kothrud, it’ is learnt that Amol Balwadkar, a BJP rebel candidate, declared his support for Chandrakant Patil, BJP’s official candidate, following a raid by I-T dept on his brother-in-law.
Sanjay Patil, a researcher in dept of civics and politics at University of Mumbai, said BJP appears vulnerable and not confident of winning the polls. “In 2014, it fought on its own and emerged as the single largest party in the state. In 2019, despite an alliance with Sena, BJP’s seats went down from 122 to 105. It also failed to negotiate a deal with its oldest ally. For last five years, it could not have its CM in the state.”
While the Haryana results buoyed the party in Maharashtra, observers said unless BJP can convince its workers that the CM will be from the party, they will not be inclined to work hard. “Elective merit is only point driving the polls. There is a complete absence of ideology and, hence, the large number of rebels,” said Ajay Vaidya, a political analyst.
