The two sides do not have adequate votes for the sixth seat and both BJP and Shiv Sena have put up candidates for it
Mumbai: The ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has convened a meeting on Tuesday of its lawmakers for a show of unity ahead of the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections.
Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Congress, the MVA constituents, can get three of the six Maharashtra seats while the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the remaining two seats based on their strength in the state assembly.
The two sides do not have adequate votes for the sixth seat and both BJP and Shiv Sena have put up candidates for it. They are banking on 29 lawmakers from smaller parties and Independents to wrest the seat.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge will be among those who will attend the meeting at a Mumbai hotel. The ruling parties have lodged their lawmakers at hotels in Mumbai to avoid poaching.
MVA claims to have the support of eight of 13 Independents and half of the 16 lawmakers from smaller parties, who have also been invited to the Tuesday meeting, said a Shiv Sena leader. MVA is short of about 16 votes while the BJP of 20 for the sixth seat.
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has two lawmakers, has said it will consider voting for MVA if the ruling combine approaches it for the support. “We can go to any extent to defeat the BJP, but MVA should openly come forward and urge us for the support instead of maintaining secrecy,” said AIMIM leader Imtiyaz Jaleel. Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi echoed Jaleel.
BJP too has convened a meeting of its lawmakers on Wednesday and is expected to shift them to a South Mumbai hotel after that.
