From ‘others’ to kingmakers: In Maharashtra MLC polls, Independents & small parties hold the key | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Both BJP and Congress are likely to need the support of independent legislators and MLAs of small outfits to ensure all their candidates get elected to the legislative council.
They are generally categorised as “others” when election results are announced. But in the Maharashtra legislative council elections on Monday, small parties and Independents will decide the fate of the bigger parties that have fielded 11 candidates for the 10 seats at stake.
The Opposition BJP has fielded five candidates while six candidates from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ruling coalition are in the fray. The Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Congress of the MVA have fielded two candidates each, making a fight for the tenth seat inevitable.
The math is currently like this: to get elected a candidate needs 26 votes; the BJP, with a strength of 106 in the Assembly, requires 130 votes in total to get all five of its candidates — Praveen Darekar, Ram Shinde, Shrikant Bharatiya, Uma Khapre, and Prasad Lad — elected.
The Congress has 44 votes and to get both its candidates, Bhai Jagtap and Chandrakant Handore, elected, it needs 52. This leaves it requiring eight additional votes from smaller parties, independents or allies. The NCP, which has 51 votes, will need just one additional ballot to get both its candidates, Ramraje Nimbalkar and Eknath Khadse, elected. The Sena has 55 votes. After getting its candidates Aamysha Padavi and Sachin Ahir elected, it will be left with three surplus votes that it can — in a situation in which there is no cross-voting or invalid votes — pass on to the Congress.
Independents and small-party MLAs
Rating: 5