Sharad Pawar to Contest Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will contest for the only Rajya Sabha seat that the opposition is likely to win. His daughter and Member of Parliament, Supriya Sule, confirmed that Pawar has been chosen as the candidate for the opposition “Maha Vikas Aghadi” (MVA) alliance.

Supriya Sule stated that she had met with Uddhav Thackeray along with Jayant Patil. She expressed gratitude to Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress Party for supporting Sharad Pawar. Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sapkal, who also attended the press conference, mentioned that discussions were held with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge and the Congress Party decided to back Sharad Pawar’s Rajya Sabha candidature.

Earlier, Sharad Pawar had announced that he would not contest for Rajya Sabha again. However, following the recent demise of his nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar last month, he reportedly reconsidered his decision. In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, BJP holds 131 seats, Shiv Sena (Shinde) 57 seats, and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) 40 seats. To win a Rajya Sabha seat, 37 votes are required. With 20 seats of Shiv Sena (UBT), 16 Congress seats and 10 NCP seats, the alliance can secure only one Rajya Sabha seat, which is expected to go to Sharad Pawar.