AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi. (File photo)Even as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra claimed on Tuesday that it has secured all its MLAs, the AIMIM hinted that it was ready to support the Shiv Sena candidate who was contesting for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat from the state. The MVA said the offer of support will be discussed during a meeting of top leaders later in the day.
“We have not received any request for support from the MVA. Neither has any leader nor any MLA contacted our MLAs. If no request comes in, then we will decide what to do,” Asaduddin Owaisi, who heads the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), said in Nanded on Tuesday. Owaisi is on a two-day tour of Maharashtra.
Reacting to the offer of support, NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “MVA leaders are meeting this evening. From the NCP side, we will present the offer of support from the AIMIM received through the media… The meeting will take the final decision.”
There are seven candidates in the fray for the six seats to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. The election is slated for June 10. While MVA constituent Shiv Sena has fielded the party’s Kolhapur district chief Sanjay Pawar for the sixth seat, the BJP has fielded Dhanajay Mahadik, also from Kolhapur.
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MVA leaders said they were confident of winning the seat as support was pouring in from Independent MLAs as well as smaller parties. “The MVA government came to power in 2019 and since then we have won every election jointly. Our Rajya Sabha candidates will be victorious despite the BJP’s attempt of horse-trading,” said Tapase.
He added that the BJP has been trying to destabilise the MVA dispensation for long, but has miserably fallen on its face every time. “Every now and then a new date is fixed by the BJP announcing the fall of the MVA, which is hilarious,” he said.
Regarding the Rajya Sabha elections, Tapase said, “We have secured our MLAs and we will counter every move of the BJP… The state administration is closely watching all such moves.”
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