MUMBAI: After continued negotiation, Maha Vikas Aghadi on Wednesday announced NCP SP president Sharad Pawar name as its candidate for its sole Rajya Sabha seat.
Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala was informed about the decision made by senior party leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.
Earlier, all three MVA allies - Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) - had staked claim to the lone seat the Opposition alliance can win from the state given their strength in the assembly.
Earlier, NCP SP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to press for her father Sharad Pawar’s candidature for Rajya Sabha seat, while party leader Jayant Patil met Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray with the same demand.
Sources said that after the demise of Ajit Pawar and the halt of NCPs' merger talks, the 85-year-old Sharad Pawar sought re-nomination as a Rajya Sabha candidate so that he can continue to anchor his party under his leadership.
“Earlier, Sharad Pawar had made up his mind to sign off from active politics and hand over the baton to his nephew Ajit Pawar. But Ajit Pawar's tragic death in an aircraft crash put Pawar and his party in a precarious situation. Therefore, Pawar decided to plug in again in active politics by re-nominating himself as MVA Rajya Sabha candidate and get active in Delhi and state politics and lead his party in difficult times,” said a source requesting anonymity.
The combined Opposition can get only one of the seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra falling vacant in April.
The quota for first preference votes for a candidate to get elected is 36 as the strength of the 288-member legislative assembly has come down to 286.
There are two vacancies due to the death of sitting MLAs -- Shivajirao Kardile (BJP), elected from Rahuri in Ahilyanagar district, and Ajit Pawar (NCP), who represented Baramati in Pune district. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has 20 MLAs followed by Congress (16), and NCP-SP (10).
Members of legislative assemblies form the electoral college for Rajya Sabha polls.
Earlier in the day, the ruling BJP announced four candidates for the polls, including BJP’s national general secretary Vinod Pawar and minister of state Ramadas Athwale.
March 5 is the last date for nominations to the Rajya Sabha. The election is likely to be unopposed, as no party is likely to file additional nominations against their given quota seats.