Notification for Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on May 24. The whole process will be completed on June 13.
Notification for Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on May 24. The whole process will be completed on June 13.
Seeking to get two candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha, the Shiv Sena on May 18 alleged that its political opponents were resorting to horse-trading for the sixth seat from Maharashtra in the upcoming elections to the Upper House of Parliament.
Party’s chief spokesperson and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA- comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) in Maharashtra has the arithmetic to win the sixth seat.
“The envy of the opposition can be seen through horse-trading attempts for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat. Money from corruption and through it horse-trading. When will this vicious cycle stop?” Mr Raut tweeted.
“Shiv Sena will contest on the sixth seat. Whatever one can do, mathematics is with the Maha Vikas Aghadi. We will fight and win,” said the Rajya Sabha member.
Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab said that his party will field another candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls and expressed confidence that his statement came a day after Shiv Sena’s second candidate was chosen.
The tenure of six Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra – Piyush Goyal, Vinay Sahastrabuddhe and Vikas Mahatme (all three from the BJP), P Chidambaram (Congress), Praful Patel (NCP) and Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) ends on July 4.
The four parties are yet to announce their candidates.
The BJP can win two Rajya Sabha seats with the number of MLAs it has, while the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP can win one seat each. So the contest will be for the sixth seat.
But the Shiv Sena’s stand could hamper the prospects of Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje, a member of the Kolhapur royal family and a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who was earlier nominated by the President of the Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Sambhajiraje recently announced that he will contest the next election to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate, and appealed to all parties to support him. He was earlier associated with BJP.
NCP President Sharad Pawar has indicated that his party may support Mr. Sambhajiraje’s candidature, but, if the latter does not get the votes of the other two MVA constituents, his election could be difficult.
Notification for Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on May 24. The entire process will be completed on June 13.