Shiv Sena-UBT announces 16 LS candidates in Maha, causes heartburn in MVA

Mumbai: After days of dilly-dallying, the Shiv Sena-UBT on Wednesday announced its list of 16 Lok Sabha candidates, including three from Mumbai, evoking huge resentment among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The list includes Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North-East), and Amol G. Kirtikar (Mumbai North-West), as well as old loyalists: Anant Geete (Raigad), Vinayak Raut (Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri), Chandrakant Khaire (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar–Aurangabad), Bhausaheb Waghchore (Shirdi), Rajan Vichare (Thane), and Omraje Nimbalkar (Dharashiv–Osmanabad).

The other nominees are Prof Narendra Khedekar (Buldhana), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim), Sanjog Waghere-Patil (Maval), Chandrahar Patil (Sangli), Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Hingoli), Rajabhau Waze (Nashik), and Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani).

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar cried foul at their ally SS-UBT's "unilateral" announcement of 16 nominees when the seat-sharing talks are still on among the MVA partners.

Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, Congress Legislature Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat, senior party ex-MP Sanjay Nirupam, and NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar's national General Secretary Dr. Jitendra Awhad were among the bigwigs who raised eyebrows at the SS-UBT list.

Wadettiwar, Thorat, and Dr Awhad unanimously opined that the SS-UBT should have adhered to the principles of alliance politics and urged it to reconsider some of its nominees in seats for Mumbai, Sangli, and others.

However, Nirupam roasted both the Congress and SS-UBT leadership, including ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, and has virtually threatened a rebellion while refusing to support the candidature of Kirtikar in Mumbai North West which he was keen to contest.

SS-UBT's chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut countered this by saying that the candidates for Sangli (Chandrahar Patil) and Mumbai North West (Kirtikar) were announced "long ago", and pointed out that his party did not object when the Congress declared its nominee for Nagpur (Vikas Thakre).

Adding to the MVA’s discomfiture was the purported snapping of ties by the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) which has chosen to go solo and form a formidable alliance with Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil, next week.

VBA President Prakash Ambedkar, announcing a list of 8 LS candidates, said his outfit will support one Congress nominee (Nagpur) and plans to field its nominees in most of the 48 LS seats in the state, which could spell political repercussions for both the MVA and the ruling MahaYuti alliances.

So far, the MVA has announced 28 candidates for the state's 48 LS seats, comprising Congress’ 12 and SS-UBT's 16, while the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar's list, besides other smaller allies, is expected shortly.