BJP, Shiv Sena To Fight It Out For Sixth Seat Of Rajya Sabha From Maharashtra
NDTV
The election will be held on June 10. This will be for the first time in more than two decades that Maharashtra will see election to the Upper House of the Parliament.
Shiv Sena and BJP will battle it out for the sixth seat of Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra as none of the seven candidates in the fray - four of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and three of BJP - withdrew their nomination on Friday.
The election will be held on June 10. This will be for the first time in more than two decades that the state will see election to the Upper House of the Parliament. The last such election was in 1998, where the Congress candidate Ram Pradhan had lost despite the party having enough numbers in its favour.
In 1998, the election was held as per the secret ballot system, while this time the voters (MLAs) will have to show their vote to the party whip before dropping it into the ballot box.
The deadline to withdraw the nominations was 3 pm on Friday. The BJP has fielded Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and former MP Dhananjay Mahadik, while Shiv Sena has put up two candidates - Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar. NCP has renominated Praful Patel, while Congress has fielded Imran Pratapgarhi. The fight for the sixth seat is between BJP's Mahadik and Sena's Sanjay Pawar.