BJP-Sena bickering continues even as Legislative Council elections approach

Although the June 21 elections to the four Graduates and Teachers division constituencies of Mumbai, Konkan and Nashik in the Legislative Council may not have any cascading effect on the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, it will surely enable the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to regain majority control of the state legislature’s Upper House.

It seems that till the elections of the 11 members of Upper House from Legislative Assembly constituency and reshuffling of the state cabinet happens, the bickering between the BJP and the Sena is set to continue. The poll is expected in July as the members will be retiring on July 27.

The June 21 elections to Mumbai Teachers, Nashik Teachers, Mumbai Graduates and Konkan Graduates constituency elections may not greatly alter the numerical strengths of the respective political parties. For the ruling estranged allies the BJP and the Shiv Sena elections to these four seats is of paramount importance in enhancing their respective numerical strengths in the upper house, besides settling old electoral scores with each other.

After the recent Palghar Lok Sabha polls, the two are once again square-off against each other in Teachers and Graduate constituency elections. But more than that a bigger pie awaits the two, as 11 Elected by Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) (EMLA) constituencies in the Legislative Council fall vacant on July 27. Here, the electorate are the 288 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) where the BJP and Sena have the upper hand in terms of number of MLAs. Out of these 11 seats for which the poll will be hold, 4 are currently held by the NCP, 3 by Congress, 2 by BJP, one each by the Sena and Peasants and Workers Party (PWP).

The BJP needs three more seats to stake claim to the post of Council Chairman currently held by Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). By winning the Osmanabad-Latur-Beed constituency election last week, BJP has already staked claim to the Deputy Chairman's post in the upper house, currently held by Manikrao Thakare of the Congress.

For the ruling estranged allies the BJP and the Shiv Sena elections to these seats is of paramount importance in enhancing their respective numerical strengths in the upper house, besides settling old electoral scores with each other.