Shiv Sena NCP announce one candidate each for Maharashtra council bypolls

    Mumbai, Mar 17 (PTI) The Shiv Sena and the NCP, partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, on Monday announced one candidate each for the March 27 bypolls to five seats in the Maharashtra legislative council.
    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared candidates for three seats on Sunday.
    With no candidates announced by the opposition parties, the election of these five candidates of the ruling alliance is a mere formality.
    The Shiv Sena has nominated Chandrakant Raghuvanshi, a prominent party worker from Nandurbar district, while the NCP has fielded Sanjay Khodke, whose wife won the 2024 state assembly election.
    This will be the first time in Maharashtra's history that a couple will serve as members of the legislative houses at the same time.
    The BJP earlier announced the candidature of Sandeep Joshi, former mayor of Nagpur and a close aide of Fadnavis, Sanjay Kenekar, state BJP general secretary, and former MLA Dadarao Keche.
    Five seats became vacant in the legislative council after sitting members won the assembly elections last year.
    Shiv Sena's Amasha Padavi, Rajesh Witekar of the NCP, and BJP's Pravin Datke, Gopichand Padalkar, and Ramesh Karad were the outgoing members who won the assembly elections.
    An election returning officer said, "Umesh Mhetre from Daund in Pune district also filed his nomination, taking the total number of contenders to six. However, his form did not have the mandatory endorsement of 10 MLAs. Hence, it will be declared invalid after the scrutiny on Tuesday."
    He said each candidate from political parties submitted two forms as a precautionary measure.
    According to the returning officer, the by-election is considered separate for each of the five seats, as they have different tenures. Hence, every candidate will need the support of 146 MLAs if the elections are to take place.
    Even if all opposition MLAs come together, they cannot put up a fight, a political observer said.
    Monday was the last day to file nominations for the March 27 by-elections. The nominations will be scrutinised on Tuesday, and candidates can withdraw from the fray by March 20.
    If no more than five candidates file nominations, the election will be uncontested.
    The state legislative council has 78 members, and it is not dissolved every five years like the assembly, and members serve a six-year term.
    Of the 78 members, 30 are elected by the legislative assembly, 22 by local governing bodies, seven by teachers, and seven by graduates.
    Additionally, the governor nominates 12 members from the fields of literature, arts, cooperatives, and social service.
    Post the 2024 assembly elections, the council had 52 members. The Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP has 32 members, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has 17.
    The BJP has 19 MLCs, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has six, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP has seven. In the MVA camp, Congress has seven members, NCP (SP) has three, and Shiv Sena (UBT) has seven. There are also three independent members.
    Opposition parties have not fielded any candidates. The MVA lacks sufficient numbers in the state assembly to secure a seat.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)