Congress, BJP name candidates for legislative council polls

The Maharashtra units of the Congress and the BJP announced the names of their candidates today, for Legislative Council elections, slated for March 20.
The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) announced the names of three candidates, by retaining veteran Shivajirao Deshmukh for a fourth consecutive term.
Deshmukh is currently the Chairman in the Upper House.
Other two candidates who have been fielded by the Congress are Chandrakant Raghuwanshi and Haribhau Rathod.
The Maharashtra BJP has retained its two candidates Vinod Tawde and senior legislator Pandurang Phundkar.
Tawde is the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council.
A few days ago, he had expressed his interest to contest the state assembly elections, which are due later this year.

The decision was taken at the BJP's state election committee meeting, a party spokesperson said.