Mumbai, June 1 (IANS) With the Legislative Council election fever gripping Maharashtra, a massive wave of rebellion has hit both the ruling MahaYuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Several high-profile leaders have defied official party dictates to file independent nomination papers, threatening the official seat-sharing arrangements.

The scale of rebellion is particularly severe within the MahaYuti alliance, leaving top leadership scrambling to pacify disgruntled aspirants and convince them to withdraw their candidacies.

Critical constituencies, including Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Raigad, are witnessing intense internal friction. Polling for 17 state council seats is slated for June 18.

The ruling alliance is facing widespread insubordination across nine crucial constituencies, with allies turning on one another. In Raigad, the NCP has officially fielded Aniket Tatkare. However, Juili Dalvi, daughter of Shiv Sena leader Mahendra Dalvi, has raised the banner of revolt by filing her nomination.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna, the BJP officially declared Suhas Shirsat as its candidate. Defying this, Sameer Sattar, son of sitting Shiv Sena Minister Abdul Sattar, has filed a rebel nomination. In Yavatmal, Shiv Sena’s official candidate is Dushyant Chaturvedi. In a double blow to the alliance, BJP’s Nitin Bhutada and NCP’s Sajid Beg have both entered the fray as rebels.

In Pune, following a dramatic day of selection politics, the NCP officially fielded Vikram Kakade. In response, BJP’s Pradeep Kand registered his candidature as a rebel. Besides, NCP’s former legislator Sunil Tingre also filed his nomination.

In Amravati, while the BJP has officially nominated Pravin Pote, Shiv Sena’s Viplav Bajoria revolted to file his papers. In Nashik, Shiv Sena gave the official ticket to Narendra Darade. However, independent candidates Gokul Gite and Ganesh Gite, both close confidants of senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan, filed nominations, complicating the contest.

In Parbhani, Shiv Sena fielded Saeeda Khan, triggering a rebellion from the NCP, with Vijay Jamkar and Zilla Parishad member Sangram Jamkar filing rival nominations. In Nanded, the BJP officially fielded Amarnath Rajurkar. Pravin Patil Chikhalikar, the son of prominent leader and MLA Chikhalikar from the NCP, filed a rebel nomination.

In Jalgaon, the BJP’s official nominee is Nandkishor Mahajan. Defying the alliance, Shiv Sena’s Reshma Kale and Deepak Dhande entered the race as rebels.

The opposition bloc, the MVA, is also wrestling with ticket distribution disputes, facing prominent revolts across key districts. In Nanded, the Congress party officially fielded Ramdas Sumthankar. However, Madhavrao Jawalgaonkar rebelled. Adding to the chaos, Krishna Ashtikar, son of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Nagesh Ashtikar, filed a rebel nomination from the Thackeray faction.

In Bhandara-Gondia, while the Congress officially nominated Dilip Bansod, Praful Agrawal, and Naresh Ishwarkar filed parallel nominations, creating severe confusion over the official candidature.

In Sangli, the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction filed Balasaheb Patil’s nomination. In a direct challenge, Congress leaders Sanjay Mendhe and Mayur Patil also filed their papers.

In Solapur, the Congress officially handed the ticket to Aditya Fattepurkar. This triggered a multi-party revolt within the MVA, with Vasant “Nana” Deshmukh of the NCP (SP) and Nagesh Akkalkote of the Shiv Sena (UBT) filing rebel nominations.

Acknowledging the widespread unrest within the ruling alliance, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde stated that the top leadership is actively working to resolve the crisis. He assured that all rebel candidates would be instructed to withdraw their nomination papers.

“The last date for the withdrawal of nominations is June 4. We will hold direct discussions with all aggrieved leaders until then to find an amicable solution. The Mahayuti alliance will fight this election with complete unity,” said Shinde.

NCP treasurer Jay Pawar said the party will do justice to those who could not be given a nomination this time in the Pune constituency. Former minister Dilip Walse Patil clarified that Vikram Kakade is the party’s official nominee from Pune constituency.

With the clock ticking down to the June 4 deadline for withdrawal of nominations, both fronts are facing a high-stakes race against time to pacify their rank-and-file, as failure to contain these rebellions could severely fracture their respective vote banks.

–IANS

sj/dan