Candidates from ruling MVA, opposition file nomination for MLC elections

The election commission announced the polls to the legislative council in Maharashtra on nine vacancies to be held on May 21. The leaders from the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the opposition filed their nomination on Monday which is the last day to do so. 

Earlier today, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray filed his nomination at Vidhan Bhavan and was accompanied by his son Aaditya Thackeray and other senior Shiv Sena leaders including Sanjay Raut, Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai. 

The MVA leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat were also present at the Vidhan Bhavan to lend their support. 

Moreover, Shiv Sena Deputy leader Neelam Gorhe also filed her nomination papers along with Thackeray for the May 21 Maharashtra Legislative Council biennial elections. Gorhe was re-nominated by her party and will be elected to the legislative council for the fourth consecutive term. 

NCP candidates Shashikant Shinde and Amol Mitkari along with Congress’ lone candidate Rajesh Rathod also submitted their nominations to the Returning officer this afternoon. From the opposition, the BJP’s four candidates including Ranjitsinh Mohite Paril, Praveen Datke, Gopichand Padalkar and Ajit Gopchede submitted their nomination papers today. 

With the MVA contesting on five seats out of the nine vacancies and the opposition on four, the legislative council polls in Maharashtra are set to be held unopposed. Earlier, the Congress had decided to contest the council polls on two seats. However, after Shiv Sena sent a message to Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat, Congress withdrew the candidature of its second candidate. 

The MVA government has the support of 169 legislators in the Maharashtra legislative assembly. Apart from its 154 MLAs - Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54, Congress 44 - the MVA has the support of 15 other legislators in the assembly. 

On the other hand, the opposition has the support of 115 MLAs including 105 legislators from the BJP and eight independents while the quota for a winning candidate in the legislative council is 29 votes.

Also Read - Election To Legislative Council On Nine Seats In Maharashtra To Be Held Unopposed: Sanjay Raut