Nomination for Maharashtra Assembly elections is over. With this the political picture has also become clear to a great extent. To maintain its dominance, BJP has been trying the formula of ‘No Repeat Theory’ in different states. BJP has been defeating the anti-incumbency wave by canceling the tickets of its sitting MLAs in large numbers and replacing them with new faces. Not only Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, but Haryana was successful in winning the political game with this strategy, but in Maharashtra elections, BJP did not follow the no-repeat formula and has expressed confidence in as many of its old faces as possible. Similarly, Congress has refrained from cutting tickets of its MLAs.
With the end of nominations for the assembly elections, it has become clear which party has fielded its candidates under which strategy. BJP and Congress have played maximum bets on their sitting MLAs, while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena have also expressed confidence in most of the leaders of their respective camps. In this way, everyone from BJP to Shiv Sena and Congress has played its bets on old faces and has fielded new faces only on the lost seats. In such a situation, the question arises that which party has canceled the tickets of how many of its sitting MLAs?
Tickets of 18 MLAs canceled in Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, all the parties including the ruling party and the opposition have rejected the tickets of a total of 18 MLAs, in which BJP did not give tickets to only 8 of its 105 sitting MLAs. In this way, BJP is making 97 MLAs contest the elections again. Congress has not given tickets to its five MLAs. Congress has canceled the tickets of those MLAs who had become rebels and cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections. Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar-led NCP(S) have canceled the tickets of two MLAs each, while Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has canceled the ticket of one of its sitting MLAs and has given a chance to all the rebels. Similarly, Uddhav Thackeray has fielded all his MLAs in the election field.
BJP canceled tickets of its 8 MLAs
In the 2019 assembly elections, 105 BJP MLAs had won the elections, out of which only 8 MLAs did not get tickets this time. BJP has made Sanjay Upadhyay its candidate by canceling the ticket of sitting MLA Sunil Rane from Boriwali seat of Mumbai area. Similarly, in place of Arni MLA Sandeep Dhurve, Raju Todsam has been made the candidate, while from Umarkhed seat, the ticket of sitting MLA Namdev Sasane has been cut off and given to Kisan Wankhede. After canceling the ticket of MLA Dada Kenche from Arvi seat, BJP has made Sumit Wankhede its candidate. Sumit Wankhede has been rewarded for being close to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
After canceling the ticket of MLA Vikas Kumbhare from Nagpur Central seat, BJP has made Praveen Datke its candidate. Praveen Datke is MLC of BJP and the party has fielded him in the elections. In this way, the ticket of MLA Ashwini Jagtap from Chinchwad seat has been canceled and Shankar Jagtap has been made the candidate in his place. Ashwini and Shankar are close relatives of each other. In this way, BJP has nominated his wife Sulabha Gaikwad in place of jailed MLA Ganpat Gaikwad from Kalyan East seat. BJP has made Shyam Khode its candidate by canceling the ticket of four-time MLA Lakhan Malik from Washim seat.
Congress canceled tickets of five MLAs
Congress has canceled the tickets of its five sitting MLAs this time. Among the MLAs whose tickets have been canceled by Congress and new faces have been given a chance, Hemant Ogle has been made the candidate in place of MLA Lahu Kanade from Shrirampur seat. Similarly, in Amgaon, Congress has canceled the ticket of Sahasram Korote and given ticket to Rajkumar Puram. The ticket cutter of MLA Shirish Chaudhary from Raver assembly seat has made his son Dhananjay Raver the candidate in his place.
Congress has canceled the tickets of the MLAs who have adopted rebellious attitude, in which Sunil Deshmukh has been canceled from the ticket of MLA Sulabha Khodke from Amravati seat and Lakibhau Jadhav has been made the candidate from Igatpuri seat by canceling the ticket of MLA Hiraman Khoskar. Both Khodke and Khoskar, rebel Congress MLAs, have been fielded by Ajit Pawar from his NCP.
Sharad-Ajit-Shinde cut tickets
Sharad Pawar led NCP(S) has fielded new faces by fielding two of its MLAs. Sharad Pawar’s NCP has nominated his son Salil Deshmukh in place of Katol MLA and former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Similarly, after canceling the ticket of MLA Babanrao Shinde from Madha seat, Sharad Pawar has made Abhijeet Patil the candidate. Similarly, Ajit Pawar led NCP has canceled the tickets of two of its MLAs. By cutting the ticket of MLA Manohar Chandrikapure from Arjuni Morgaon seat, BJP leader Rajkumar Badole has been made the NCP candidate. By cutting the ticket of MLA Balasaheb Ajbe from Ashti seat.
Former MLC Suresh Dhas has been made the candidate.
Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has fielded former MP Rajendra Gavit from Palghar by canceling the ticket of sitting MLA Srinivas Vanga. Srinivas Vanga was one of those Shiv Sena MLAs who left Uddhav Thackeray and sided with Shinde. In such a situation, now, unhappy with the ticket being cut, they have disappeared somewhere. At the same time, tickets have been given to all the MLAs who stood strongly with Uddhav Thackeray and no one’s ticket has been canceled.
BJP’s avoidance of no-repeat theory
In the Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP has refrained from cutting tickets of its sitting MLAs and has placed bets only on old faces. BJP may have succeeded in returning to power in Haryana, but the protests had intensified due to the cutting of tickets of sitting MLAs. In Madhya Pradesh, playing the bet on new faces in place of old faces may have been successful, but it backfired in the Lok Sabha elections. That is why BJP has canceled tickets of only 8 MLAs in Maharashtra Assembly elections. Apart from this, we have maintained our trust in old and experienced leaders. One reason behind this is that in the last five years, there were many political upheavals in Maharashtra, from NCP to Shiv Sena, it got divided into two factions. Many Congress MLAs also rebelled while not a single BJP MLA defected. In such a situation, considering his loyalty, BJP has expressed confidence in him in the elections.
