MUMBAI: Three candidates of the BJP, including Union minister Piyush Goyal, Congress nominee Imran Pratapgarhi and NCP's Praful Patel on Monday filed their nomination papers for the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, setting the stage for a close contest for the sixth seat in Maharashtra.
Besides Goyal, Anil Bonde and former MP from Kolhapur Dhananjay Mahadik filed nominations as BJP candidates for the biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament.
Patel, a former Union minister, and Congress candidate Pratapgarhi, a poet, also joined the race to enter the Rajya Sabha.
Last week, Shiv Sena candidates Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar filed their nomination forms.
Members of the Assembly form the electoral college for the polls.
The opposition BJP and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress, have exuded confidence of securing victory for the sixth seat.
The BJP has votes to win two seats on its own.
The Congress, the Shiv Sena and the NCP can win one seat each on their own and will together have surplus votes to win another seat.
The Shiv Sena is banking on these surplus votes to win its second seat.
With the BJP fielding three candidates and the MVA fielding four, there will be a tight fight for the sixth seat.
This also prompted Shiv Sena leader Raut to accuse the BJP of indulging in horse-trading, a charge denied by the state's main opposition party.
Responding to the charge, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said, "We don't want to indulge in horse-trading. All our three candidates will win. They (the ruling alliance partners) have to decide."
"If our three candidates and their three candidates will be in the fray, the question of horse-trading will not arise. But, even if they contest (on four seats), we will not indulge in any horse-trading and all our three candidates will win," the leader of opposition in the state Assembly said.
Fadnavis said the BJP fielded the third candidate after careful consideration.
"When we have fielded the third candidate, it is evident that it has been a well-thought out decision," the former state chief minister said.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the MVA has the arithmetic on its side and all its candidates will win.
Maharashtra has a 288-member assembly and its members will vote in the RS polls.