Ramdas Athawale, Vinod Tawde among 4 BJP picks for Maharashtra Rajya Sabha polls
India Today
Apart from Athawale and Tawde, the BJP has announced Maya Chintaman and Ramrao Wadkute as its nominees for the March 16 Rajya Sabha polls in Maharashtra, amid a competitive political atmosphere between the Mahayuti and MVA alliances.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has named Ramdas Athawale, Vinod Tawde, Maya Chintaman and Ramrao Wadkute as its candidates for the March 16 Rajya Sabha biennial elections in Maharashtra, signalling an early and assertive move in the contest for seven Upper House seats.
The nominations, cleared by the party’s Central Election Committee, underline the BJP’s intent to consolidate its advantage within the ruling Mahayuti alliance and maximise returns from its numerical strength in the state assembly.
The election notification was issued on February 26, triggering heightened political activity ahead of the March 5 nomination deadline.
The Mahayuti alliance — comprising the BJP, the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party headed by Ajit Pawar — holds 232 votes in the 286-member Maharashtra Assembly.
With 36 votes required to secure a seat, the ruling bloc is comfortably placed to win six of the seven seats.
In contrast, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has 46 votes, enough for one seat, but internal disagreements have complicated its strategy.
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