All Maharashtra council candidates to be elected unopposed after Congress opts out

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like All candidates contesting the Maharashtra legislative council elections for 10 seats, including one by-election, are set to be elected unopposed as only proportionate number of candidates from the main political parties filed their nominations until Thursday, the last day for filing nominations. BJP candidates Sunil Karjatkar, Madhavi Naik, Sanjay Bhende, Vivek Kolhe, and Pramod Jathar contesting for the MLC election (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)This became possible after the Congress decided not to contest the election. The party announced its decision after a meeting with senior Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) leaders on Thursday. Meanwhile, former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, son of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique, filed his nomination as the NCP candidate for the legislative council polls on Thursday. He joined the NCP along with his father but lost the assembly elections from Vandre East constituency in November 2024. According to NCP insiders, late NCP president Ajit Pawar had promised to rehabilitate Zeeshan after his defeat. “This is why most senior leaders were positive about is candidature,” said a senior NCP leader. Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena has fielded deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe and Prahar Janshakti Party founder Bachchu Kadu after they joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction. Like the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena too chose not to field an extra candidate for the polls. In the Mahayuti coalition, the BJP has fielded six, the Shiv Sena two (Bacchu Kadu and Neelam Gorhe), and the NCP one (Zeeshan Siddique). From the opposition, which is contesting only one seat, the Sena (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve has been nominated. Of the ten seats, nine are due for biennial elections as sitting members retire on May 13. The tenth seat fell vacant after Congress MLC Pradnya Satav resigned and joined the BJP in December last year. She is one of the BJP’s candidates in the fray. While declaring his party’s support to Danve as the MVA candidate, Congress’s state president Harshwardhan Sapkal said, “There was a lack of communication, and today we spoke for two and a half to three hours. It was decided that the Congress will take primary responsibility for (MVA) representation in the coming round of elections.”