Rajya Sabha Elections 2022: Maharashtra will hold its first election to the Upper House since 1998

The Shiv Sena and the BJP will compete for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra because none of the seven candidates - four from the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and three from the BJP - withdrew their nominations on Friday. The election will take place on June 10th. The state will be elected to the Upper House of Parliament for the first time in more than two decades.

The last such election was held in 1998, when Congress candidate Ram Pradhan lost despite having enough votes.

 

However, the election in 1998 was held by secret ballot, whereas this time voters (MLAs) will be required to show their vote to the party whip before dropping it in the ballot box. The deadline for withdrawing nominations was Friday at 3 p.m. The BJP has put up three candidates: Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde, and former MP Dhananjay Mahadik, while the Shiv Sena has put up two: Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar.

 

Praful Patel has been renominated by the NCP, while Imran Pratapgarhi has been nominated by Congress. The BJP's Mahadik and the Sena's Sanjay Pawar are competing for the sixth seat. In the morning, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leader Sunil Kedar, and Shiv Sena leader Anil Desai (all from the ruling MVA) met with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to see if an election could be avoided.

 

According to Bhujbal, the MVA delegation informed Fadnavis that the ruling coalition will facilitate the election of one more BJP candidate in the Legislative Council elections if the saffron party withdraws its third candidate. "We proposed that the BJP withdraw its third candidate to allow for an unopposed election to the Rajya Sabha in exchange for one additional seat in the Legislative Council, where biennial elections for ten seats are scheduled later this month," he said.

 

"However, Fadnavis countered by saying that the MVA would withdraw its fourth Rajya Sabha candidate and take an additional Legislative Council seat. After two decades, the election to the Rajya Sabha appears to be unavoidable. The Shiv Sena's Sanjay Pawar will face off against the BJP's third candidate, Mahadik "he said. The Sena, NCP, and Congress will all have one candidate elected safely because the party whip is binding on voter-MLAs, according to Bhujbal.

 

 

Image Courtesy: Twitter @DDIndialive