Maharashtra's opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has finally reached a consensus to support veteran leader Sharad Pawar's candidature for the Rajya Sabha, local media reports said. With this, the suspense within the Maha Vikas Aghadi has come to an end, as they are only set to win one seat in the Upper House.
After the Congress officially extended its support to Pawar’s candidature, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena also backed him, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule reportedly announced. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Mahayuti alliance has also announced its four candidates for the Rajya Sabha. These include Union Minister of State Ramdas Athawale, the party’s National General Secretary Vinod Tawde, former Nagpur mayor Maya Ivnate, and Dhangar community leader Ramrao Wadkute. The ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the NCP, has 232 MLAs and can potentially win six seats.
Of the six seats for 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.
Earlier, there were disagreements within the alliance as the Shiv Sena (UBT) had staked a claim to the seat, as they are the largest constituent of the MVA in terms of MLAs. Clarifying his earlier remarks about Sharad Pawar, the Rajya Sabha MP said he had merely stated that the senior NCP leader had expressed a desire regarding the Rajya Sabha berth.
"We are the single largest party with 20 MLAs. The Congress has 16, and the NCP (SP) has 10. Therefore, whoever gets elected to the Rajya Sabha will go as a candidate of the MVA. As the largest party, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has the first right," Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. However, Uddhav Thackeray's party seems to have conceded, letting the senior leader have another stint in New Delhi.
The members who are retiring include Sharad Pawar and Fauzia Khan (NCP-SP), Ramdas Athawale, Dhairyasheel Patil, and Bhagwat Karad (BJP), Rajani Patil (Congress), and Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT).