Rajya Sabha polls | BJP fields three candidates from Maharashtra, prompts ‘horse-trading’ accusations from ruling Shiv Sena
The Hindu
After Piyush Goyal and Anil Bonde, Kolhapur’s Dhananjay Mahadik is the BJP’s third choice
A fierce fight is in the offing for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat in Maharashtra after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded a third candidate, senior leader from Kolhapur and ex-MP Dhananjay Mahadik.
Earlier, the party had announced the candidatures of Union Minister Piyush Goyal and former Maharashtra Minister Dr. Anil Bonde. All three BJP leaders filed their respective nominations on Monday.
The BJP’s fielding of a third candidate immediately prompted accusations from the ruling Shiv Sena that the former planned to indulge in rampant horse-trading ahead of the June 10 polls.
The Sena has staked claim on the sixth RS seat as well by fielding a second candidate, its Kolhapur district chief Sanjay Pawar.
Expressing confidence that the BJP would win all three seats and have three leaders from Maharashtra in the Upper House, former Chief Minister and Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said: “All three candidates are from Maharashtra. While we are proud to field Mr. Goyal, who is from Mumbai, Dr. Anil Bonde has been a farmers’ leader and an expert in the agricultural field besides being a Minister in the previous [BJP] government. Dhananjay Mahadik, too, has done a lot of work in the State’s cooperative sector.”
Mr. Mahadik, who belongs to the influential Mahadik clan in Kolhapur, was an Nationalist Congress Party MP who later joined the BJP soon after the 2019 Assembly polls. A great rival of senior Congressman Satej ‘Bunty’ Patil, Mr. Mahadik, who was beaten in the 2019 Lok Sabha election besides suffering reversals in local elections, has seen his fortunes slide since he joined the BJP.
He is pinning his hopes of a political comeback with a win in the RS polls.
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