LC polls: Sena not keen to transfer excess votes to allies

Amid hectic political parleys underway for the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections scheduled on Monday, MLAs of the ruling Shiv Sena have apparently conveyed told their leadership that they do not want transfer their excess votes to nominees of Congress and NCP.

“This is the view of the Shiv Sena MLAs. Let’s see what the leadership decides. The Sena has six-seven excess votes,” a party legislator said on Sunday, on condition of anonymity.

The legislator said the Sena MLAs do not want to take a chance in the wake of the setback in the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, where the party’s second nominee Sanjay Pawar, who was leading in the first round, was defeated by BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik.

After being outwitted by the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVAalso comprising the NCP and Congress) is now facing the challenge of getting all its six candidates elected to the Legislative Council in the polls on Monday.

The MLAs of the three ruling parties and the BJP have reached Mumbai ahead of the elections. They have been kept in hotels at different locations in the city. The MVA allies and the BJP were holding discussions as well as reaching out to leaders of smaller parties and Independents to devise their strategy for winning the polls.

Leaders of the ruling allies will also meet Chief

A total of 11 candidates are in the fray for the 10 seats up for grabs, with Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress fielding two candidates each

Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in the evening.

A total of 11 candidates are in the fray for the 10 seats up for grabs, with the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress fielding two candidates each. The BJP has nominated five candidates.

Unlike the Rajya Sabha polls, the Legislative Council elections will be held through secret ballot.