Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
In the municipal corporation elections, 1,446 candidates are in the fray, a large number of whom are independents. To prevent division of votes, official candidates of political parties began deploying teams from Wednesday evening itself to persuade independent candidates to withdraw. Throughout Thursday, discussions were held by reaching out to independent candidates and their supporters. Independents were clearly ‘driving a hard bargain’ for withdrawal. The deadline to withdraw nomination papers is Friday at 3 pm.
For the municipal corporation elections, the BJP–Shinde Sena alliance did not materialise. Just as there was a split within the Mahayuti, a similar situation exists in the Maha Vikas Aghadi as well. All parties are now contesting on their own. There was a rush of aspirants; those who did not get party tickets rebelled against their parties. Some secured nominations from other parties, while others entered the race as independents. Many have vowed to defeat the candidate of the party that denied them a ticket.
Fearing that independents could spoil the game, candidates have started persuading them through party leaders as well as on their own. However, independents are not in a mood to listen. They have begun saying that they will contest the election and emerge as winners. On Thursday, some independents visited the election officer’s office and withdrew their nominations. On Friday, the withdrawal window will remain open from 11 am to 3 pm. During these four hours, it appears that party candidates will try hard to force independents to withdraw. How successful they are will be known on Friday.
No division of votes
Some workers from political parties have filed nomination papers in rebellion. Even if they contest as independents, they could trouble the party’s official candidate. There is a strong possibility of vote splitting. To avoid division of votes, efforts are being made to compel such rebel candidates to withdraw.