Rebels in Mahayuti and MVA complicate Marathwada graduates' constituency election

The election to the Marathwada graduates' constituency has become a point of interest in politics across the state. All parties have put in full effort for the coming teachers' and graduates' constituency elections. But both the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are facing revolts from within their own ranks. The revolts have muddled the equations in the Marathwada graduates' constituency, and everyone is now watching to see who finally gets the candidature.

First, the MVA. Dilip Ghuge filed his nomination with great fanfare yesterday as the official candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). It initially seemed that Ghuge would be the alliance's candidate. But within a few hours, a spark flew within the alliance.

Pratapsinh Patil, the Dharashiv district president of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), suddenly entered the fray and filed his nomination. Notably, senior leader of the NCP Sharad Pawar faction and former minister Rajesh Tope was present with Patil when he went to file the nomination. This made it clear that there is internal friction in the MVA over candidature.

Speaking to the media after filing, Patil expressed full confidence that the Shiv Sena Thackeray faction's candidate Dilip Ghuge would withdraw his nomination. Tope also spoke. He said his talks with senior leaders of the Thackeray faction were going positively and that the Thackeray faction's candidate would certainly withdraw his nomination. Still, the question remains how this knot will be untied, whether the Thackeray faction or the Sharad Pawar faction will step back, and the suspense continues.

On the other side, all is not well in the ruling Mahayuti either. There was strong talk in political circles that the Mahayuti candidature for the Marathwada graduates' election had gone to the NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction. Accordingly, former MLA Satish Chavan had also filed his nomination as the main Mahayuti contender. It was initially believed the direct contest would be between Satish Chavan (Mahayuti) and Dilip Ghuge (MVA).

But a big challenge has come from within the BJP. M. K. Deshmukh of the Bharatiya Janata Party has raised the flag of open revolt in the Mahayuti and announced that he would file his own nomination. This has caused considerable stir in the Mahayuti camp.

M. K. Deshmukh is a former education officer with good contacts in administration and education. He retired from government service before the 2024 Assembly election. In that election he had prepared to contest against senior BJP leader and minister Atul Save, but withdrew his candidature at the last moment at the party's request. It is being said in political circles that senior BJP leaders had then given him a verbal assurance that the party would field him in the coming graduates' election. It is said that Deshmukh has now chosen the path of revolt because the promise was not kept.

Not only parties and their rebels, but also faces who have reached homes through social media, the reel stars, are in the fray. Raviraj Sable and Ramesh Patil have decided to contest. Given their popularity among young voters and graduates, there is now talk of whose votes these candidates will cut and whose arithmetic they will upset.

The names in the fray are: Satish Chavan (Mahayuti contender, NCP Ajit Pawar faction), Dilip Ghuge (official MVA candidate, Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction), Pratapsinh Patil (MVA rebel, NCP Sharadchandra Pawar faction), M. K. Deshmukh (Mahayuti rebel, Bharatiya Janata Party), and independents and reel stars Raviraj Sable and Ramesh Patil.

The election is no longer only about parties, as internal revolt and personal influence have been added to it. The outcome rests on how the Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions find an understanding within the MVA, and how the Mahayuti checks the revolt of the BJP's M. K. Deshmukh. Many major moves behind the scenes cannot be ruled out until the last date for withdrawal of nominations.