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Mumbai: It seems as though the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Congress, Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray faction and the Sharad Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction might just want to play it safe in the February 27 biennial election for the six seats of the Rajya Sabha in Maharashtra. Only the Congress has just about enough votes to ensure that their lone candidate can get elected without much hiccups.
While it is the paucity of votes that will deter the MVA from taking a gamble of fielding a second candidate, it is the problem of plenty and being spoilt for choices that is bound to plague the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Mahayuti.
Given the scenario that is heavily loaded in favour of the Mahayuti, the biennial election for the six seats of the Rajya Sabha in Maharashtra is expected to be held unopposed. According to the tally of the ruling Mahayuti, which consists of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), they may bag five seats, whereas the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), led by Congress, is expected to bag one seat.
State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule confirmed that Mahayuti will win five out of six seats and the MVA will win one seat in the Rajya Sabha in the ensuing biennial election. However, he did not clarify whether the election would be held unopposed or not. As per the election programme, the election will be held on February 27, if needed.
Since the strength of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is 288. In the 288 member lower house, there are 2 vacancies, hence the required quota to win in the election now 41 votes. Besides, the voting will take place by open ballot, wherein the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will have to show the preference of their vote to their respective party election agents, ruling out any possibility of cross-voting or horse-trading.
According to Bawankule, three candidates from the BJP will win the election, while one each from the Shiv Sena and the NCP from the ruling Mahayuti will win the other two seats. There are several aspirants from all these parties to get elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
From Ajit Pawar’s party, his son Parth has expressed his wish to field the election. He has submitted his application to the party. Parth lost the 2019 assembly election in Maval Lok Sabha’s constituency against Shiv Sena’s Srirang Barne. Apart from Parth, Avinash Adik, former MP Anand Paranjape, Amarsingh Pandit, and Idris Naikwadi are other names doing the rounds.
Amarsingh Pandit, a former member of the State Legislative Council, is a close aide of Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde. Idris Naikwadi is the former mayor of Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad municipal corporation and the state president of the NCP’s minority wing.
From the BJP camp, former minister Harshwardhan Patil from Indapur assembly constituency in Pune district, and former minister Amrish Patel from Shirpur assembly constituency in Dhule district, are the two names considered as strong contenders for the RS polls. The BJP has to nominate three names. Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs V Muraleedharan was elected from Maharashtra in April 2018, and the party is likely to continue him from Maharashtra. The party will also have to consider the nomination of sitting MP and Union Minister for MSMEs Narayan Rane. Eknath Shinde may suggest Milind Deora’s name for the RS polls. Congress will announce the name of its candidate on the last day of the nomination.
According to sources, former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan would be a candidate for Congress from Maharashtra. In 2020, Congress fielded Imran Pratapgarhi, a Uttar Pradesh-based politician from the Muslim minority community; hence, Congress is likely to consider candidates from other than minority communities this time. Rajan would be its first preference, said a senior Congress leader.
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