Council bypolls: BJP plans to bag 207 votes

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is planning to win the upcoming state legislative council bypoll without support of BJP ally, Shiv Sena, which, however, has assured that it will support BJP. Sources said that the BJP wants to send out a message to Sena by winning on its own.

The BJP is confident of getting more than 207 votes. BJP candidate Prasad Lad told The Asian Age, “We will show the power of ‘invisible hands’ in the elections and get victory.”

Denying a ticket to ex-CM Narayan Rane, who is now with the NDA, BJP fielded Prasad Lad in the elections. Meanwhile, Congress leader Dilip Mane is contesting the bypoll. BJP refrained from fielding Mr Rane due to opposition from the Sena and fear that Sena, Congress, NCP and others might come together to defeat Mr Rane, which would be an embarrassment for the government ahead of the Gujarat elections. The CM did not want Mr Rane in the state cabinet so he used Sena as a shield and denied Mr Rane a ticket.

The CM is now planning for the BJP to get over 207 votes on its own to show that the party does not need Sena’s support to prove its majority. The BJP has a strength of 122 and Sena 63 MLAs. Congress has 42 and NCP 41 MLAs. If BJP’s candidate gets more than 207 votes, it will show that the party can win without Sena and Mr Rane would have won if he had been fielded.