Maha: Colours, flowers, roadshows & show of strength as MVA nominees file poll papers

Mumbai, Oct 24 : The last-minute bickering notwithstanding, many candidates of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-Shiv Vwna (UBT) filed their nominations in a riot of colours, flowers and huge processions in different parts of Maharashtra for the Assembly polls, here on Thursday.

Taking advantage of the ‘Guru Pushya Nakshatra’ the openly excited but deeply anxious nominees walked out with a large number of leaders, celebs and supporters in a display of strength and support for their candidature for the upcoming November 20 electoral ‘Mahabharata’.

The SS (UBT) has officially announced its first list of 65 candidates, while the Congress-NCP (SP) are likely to announce their nominees, plus those of the other smaller partners of the MVA on Friday, well ahead of the last of filing nominations – Oct. 29.

Prominent faces like Congress’ ex-minister Yashomati Thakur filed her nomination from Tivsa (Amravati) with a surprise bike rally in which she drove at the lead.

There was a stunner in the form of Haryana Congress MLA and Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat landing here to lend a muscular arm of support – whom Thakur described as a ‘Bahadur Beti, Bahadur Bahin’ of India.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party has perpetrated injustice not only on women but also the youth of the country… It is necessary to defeat the MahaYuti government and send the MVA to power where Yashomati Thakur can raise her booming voice for the people,” roared Phogat to a thundering round of applause.

Thakur had invited MPs Balwant Wandkhede, Amar Kale, Sanjay Deshmukh, ex-union ministers Arun Yadav, ex-Madhya Pradesh Minister Sukhdev Panse, other bigwigs like Anilbabu Deshmukh, Harshvardhan Deshmukh, legislators and representatives of the MVA allies.

In Mumbai, SS (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray filed his papers after leading a massive roadshow in the Worli seat, with his parents, ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray and Rashmi Thackeray beside him, along with other top party leaders.

None other than NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar joined a procession in Thane where party General Secretary Jitendra Awhad took out a huge procession to file his papers for the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency, in Thane, the home district of CM Eknath Shinde.

NCP (SP) state President Jayant R. Patil filed his papers from the Islampur seat in Sangli where he is contesting for the 8th consecutive time.

Senior NCP (SP) leader Eknath Khadse’s daughter Rohini Khadse-Khewalkar submitted her papers for a second attempt in the Muktainagar seat - once represented by her father – which she had lost as a BJP nominee in 2019.

Ex-BJP leader who recently made a ‘ghar-wapasi’ to NCP (SP) Harshvarrdhan Patil accompanied by party’s Working President Supriya Sule, along with thousands of his supporters in a roadshow submitted his nomination papers for Pune’s Indapur seat which he is contesting for the fifth time.

NCP (SP)’s Prashant B. Yadav filed the nomination from Chiplun-Sangameshwar (Ratnagiri) in the presence of senior MVA leaders and a long retinue of supporters behind him.

SS (UBT)’s candidate Rajan B. Vichare, who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, filed his nomination papers for the Thane assembly seat accompanied by a large number of leaders and workers in a procession.

Most candidates and their senior leaders slammed the ruling MahaYuti of Shiv Sena-BJP-Nationalist Congress Party on various grounds, how they had ‘looted’ the state coffers, fomented hatred among communities and castes, the breakdown of the law-and-order situation in the state, spiralling unemployment, sky-high inflation and other issues confronting Maharashtra.

Many other candidates are expected to file their poll papers over the next four days from the Congress, NCP (SP), SS (UBT) and Samajwadi Party, Peasants & Workers Party, CPI, CPI (M) and other allies of the MVA before plunging into the gruelling electioneering in a big bid to dislodge the MahaYuti from power.