Sena will consider RS seat for Sambhajiraje if he joins party

The descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji has declared to contest Upper House elections as an independent

The Shiv Sena will consider sixth Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra to Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati — current Rajya Sabha member who has already declared to contest the coming Upper House elections as an independent — if he decides to join the party.

On Thursday night, Sambhajiraje — a descendant of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj — held a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. According to sources, Mr. Thackeray is willing to extend him the seat in case he decides to join the party. To which, Sambhajiraje has reportedly yet to give positive answer.

The Sena has already announced that out of six seats up for grab, the party will contest two seats while other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will contest a seat each.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters that the party respected Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati and it would welcome him to the party fold. “Our leader Uddhav ji has expressed the desire to contest the second seat. And the party will consider Sambhajiraje’s candidature if he joins the party,” said Mr. Raut.

Sambhajiraje has already declared that he will be contesting the Rajya Sabha election as an independent.

Presently, the MVA government has a strength of 169 MLAs and with a death of Sena MLA Ramesh Latke, it now stands at 168. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party alliance has 113 MLAs. One Rajya Sabha seat requires 42 votes and based on that the MVA can have four seats while the BJP will have two.

The NCP has already said that it will transfer the extra votes with the party to the sixth candidate decided by the Sena. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar recently said the party would support the Sena’s choice reminding how it had previously supported the NCP candidate with extra votes.