Rajya Sabha polls: Sharad Pawar, Ramdas Atahawale and five other candidates from Maharashtra likely to be elected unopposed

Mumbai: With no party fielding extra candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Maharashtra, it became clear on Friday evening that three nominees of the BJP, two of the NCP and one each of the Shiv Sena and Congress would get elected unopposed. Friday was the last day for filing nominations. To be precise, there is an eighth candidate in the fray, but the Returning Officer said this person — whose name was not disclosed by officials — had not even filed the mandatory affidavit nor has he paid the security deposit. [caption id=“attachment_8056201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. PTI[/caption] Of the seven candidates, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Union minister and BJP ally Ramdas Athawale are sitting members of the Upper House of Parliament. The other five will be entering the Rajya Sabha for the first time. The BJP fielded Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India, again. It replaced sitting MP Amar Sabale with Udayanraje Bhosale, who lost Lok Sabha byelection last year after quitting the NCP and joining the saffron party. Instead of associate member Sanjay Kakade who was fielded last time, the BJP gave ticket to Bhagwat Karad, a physician from Marathwada region, as its third candidate. The NCP continued with its chief Sharad Pawar while also fielding former state minister Fauzia Khan this time. The Shiv Sena fielded former Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, while the Congress gave ticket to Rajiv Satav, who was in charge of Delhi elections for the party. Satav, Chaturvedi, Fauzia Khan and Karad on Friday filed their nomination papers. Pawar, Athawale and Bhosale had filed papers earlier. The polls will be held on March 26. Karad, former mayor of Aurangabad, was accompanied by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil and former state minister Pankaja Munde as he filed his nominations. A single candidate needs 37 votes to sail through. Terms of sitting RS members Sharad Pawar and Majeed Memon (NCP), Athawale (RPI), HussainDalwai (Congress), Amar Sable (BJP), Rajkumar Dhoot (Shiv Sena) and Sanjay Kakade (independent) will expire on April 2. The 288-member Legislative Assembly forms the electoral college for the elections. The BJP has 105 MLAs, Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54, Congress 44,Bahujan Vikas Aghadi 3,SP, AIMIM and Prahar Janshakti Party two each,MNS, CPM, PWP, Swabhimani Paksh, RSP, Jansurajya Party, Krantikari Shetkari Party one each and 13 are independents.