BJP-led Mahayuti Name Vinod Tawde, Ramdas Athawale, 2 Others For Rajya Sabha

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra have declared their candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on March 16.

The candidates include Ramdas Athawale, who has been the president of Republican Party of India-Athawale (RPI-A) since 1999, a splinter group of the RPI. Athawale was previously a legislator in the Council and a Maharashtra Cabinet Minister between 1990 and 1995. He was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North Central for the first time in 1998, and again in 1999 and 2004. In 2014, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and has remained the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment since 2016.

Another candidate is BJP's Vinod Tawde, who has been active in organisational work over the last few years, after serving in the Maharashtra Cabinet as Minister for School Education, Higher and Technical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare. He was also the General Secretary of Maharashtra BJP. The RSS favourite is also a known rival of Devendra Fadnavis, which means his elevation would leave no competition in the BJP state unit for the Chief Minister.

The other two candidates named by the Mahayuti includes former Nagpur Mayor Mayatai Chintaman Ivnate, who has held several key positions at city and state levels over the years. She served as Nagpur Mayor from 2007 to 2009. She has been actively associated with the state BJP for many years in various organisational roles. As a committed tribal welfare activist, she has also served as a Member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

The fourth candidate is Ramrao Wadkute, a senior Maharashtra BJP leader and a former MLC. He was previously a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and has served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council as its representative. In 2019, he resigned from the NCP and joined the BJP. He was elected the district president of BJP's Hingoli unit in 2021. He also held the responsibility of BJP's election chief and in-charge of Hingoli Lok Sabha constituency. Wadkute is known as a leader representing the Dhangar community.

Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar)

The untimely death of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash, has left a void in the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar). After his wife Sunetra Pawar, who was the party's MP in the Rajya Sabha, resigned from her post, the NCP (AP) announced their son Parth as their candidate.

MVA Yet To Name Candidates

Although the Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) have both openly staked claim to the only seat the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) can realistically hope to win, it is believed that the key to the equation lies in the hands of NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar.

There is immense speculation as to whether the MVA can secure this seat, or if they will squander this opportunity due to internal bickering. There is a feeling in political circles that not only one Rajya Sabha seat is at stake for the opposition in this election, but also the future of the unity of the MVA alliance.

Candidates can file nominations till March 5. Voting will be held on March 16. As of now, it seems the Mahayuti can win six seats, while the MVA can definitely win one.