Seven Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra are going to be vacant and the biennial Rajya Sabha election will take place on March 16.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has expressed confidence that out of seven seats, the grand saffron alliance will win six seats, as it has the required numbers, while one seat would go to the opposition MVA. Going by the CM’s confidence, the results of the Rajya Sabha elections already appear to be a foregone conclusion.
The members who are retiring include Sharad Pawar, Fauzia Khan (NCP SP), Ramdas Athavale, Dhairyasheel Patil and Bhagwat Karad (BJP), Rajni Patil (Congress), and Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT).
The new members of the Rajya Sabha will be elected from the MLAs of Maharashtra. The ruling Mahayuti has 235 MLAs while the Opposition has remaining 52, with the MVA having 46. These numbers make it clear that the Mahayuti will win six seats, as the minimum required votes for winning in the RS elections is 37 first-preference votes.
Of the six seats from the Mahayuti, four will belong to the BJP, while one seat each will go to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP. It remains to be seen whether NCP will nominate the late Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar as its candidate or whether he will occupy the RS seat which will be vacated by his mother and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar.
There is going to be a tussle over one remaining seat between MVA partners as Aditya Thackeray announced on Friday that being the single-largest party in the opposition, the Shiv Sena-UBT would field its candidate for the RS elections from there.
The Congress too is keen to field its candidate, but at present it looks difficult, as it does not have the required numbers. Same is the case with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
The scenario may change only if Sharad Pawar decides to contest for Rajya Sabha once again, in which case the Shiv Sena-UBT would be willing to give up its claim on the seat and then Pawar senior could be the MVA candidate from Maharashtra. In return, the Shiv Sena-UBT can then bargain for an additional MLC seat when the elections take place in June this year.
Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut has said that a senior statesman like Sharad Pawar is needed in the Rajya Sabha and that the Shiv Sena would be willing to give up its claim on the Rajya Sabha seat if Pawar indicates that he will contest.
The notification for the Rajya Sabha elections will be issued at the end of February and the election will take place on March 16. The results will be announced immediately after the polling.
