Ajit Faction Nominates Patel, 6 Maharashtra RS Members May Get Elected Unopposed

Mumbai: Senior NCP leader Praful Patel, who has four years of his current Rajya Sabha term left, will be the Ajit Pawar faction’s candidate for Rajya Sabha elections to be held this month. The elections for the six Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra may not be needed as only six candidates are in the fray who could be elected unopposed. The BJP has declared the names of three candidates, including Ashok Chavan. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will field Milind Deora while the Congress’s candidate will be former Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Handore. The last day for filing nominations is on Thursday.

If more than six candidates are in the fray, the elections will be held on February 27. It was speculated that the BJP may field a fourth candidate. However, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule clarified that his party will field only three candidates.

“Six candidates could get elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed. It doesn’t look like voting would be needed,” Mr Bawankule said.

The BJP has named Mr. Chavan, former MLA Medha Kulkarni and Ajit Gopchhade — a doctor who has long association with the RSS and BJP. Dr. Ghopchhade is the head of the Maharashtra BJP’s doctors' cell.

The BJP has also tried to give representations to different castes. In Mr. Chavan, it has given a Maratha candidate while Dr. Gopchhade is a Lingayat. Its female candidate is a Brahmin.

Shiv Sena candidate Mr. Deora had quit the Congress on January 13 and joined the Eknath Shinde’s party. Son of veteran Congress leader late Murli Deora, he served as the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Communications and Information Technology and Shipping during the Congress tenure from 2012 to 2014. He had won the Mumbai South seat in 2004 and 2009 and was the first runner-up in the 2014 and 2019 elections against Shiv Sena (Undivided) leader Arvind Sawant.

Mr. Patel’s candidature from the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP was most surprising as he was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2022 and still has four years left in his current term. There were speculations that former Congress leader Baba Siddique, who joined the Ajit faction last week, or Ajit Pawar’s son Parth could be sent to Rajya Sabha.

Maharashtra president of the Ajit faction, Sunil Tatkare announced that Mr. Patel will file his nomination on Thursday. He will resign from his current membership of the Rajya Sabha. According to sources, this decision was taken to avoid any friction ahead of Lok Sabha. “There were several aspirants in the Ajit faction. Mr Patel was nominated as nobody can object to him. He will also get two additional years with the move. The party strength in the Maharashtra assembly can change after the 2024 elections and there was no guarantee that Mr Patel will get re-elected after four years. At the same time, the seat vacated by Mr. Patel can be used to accommodate someone after the Lok Sabha polls,” a source said.