Congress' Mane and BJP's Lad to contest Dec 7 MLC poll

The election to the lone 'elected by MLAs constituency' seat on December 7 will be a direct contest between Congress candidate Dilip Mane and BJP's Prasad Lad. Neither of them withdrew their candidature on the last day for withdrawal of nominations today.
The Shiv Sena has already declared its support to BJP's Prasad Lad.
The electoral college (voters) for this constituency comprises of the 288 MLAs of the lower house, the legislative assembly. The BJP has 122 MLAs and the Sena has 63 MLAs. With the Sena supporting Lad, the combined tally of votes in Lad's favour is 185, which is 40 more than the required quota.

According to sources in the Election Commission of India (ECI), although this election is held by secret ballot, the party whip does not apply, increasing the possibility of cross voting.
The by-election to the lone seat is being held after former chief minister Narayan Rane resigned from his seat in the upper house on September 22 this year.
He had won from the MLAs constituency in the upper house and his term of membership was to expire on July 7, 2022. The winner will get the remainder of the term of four years and 10 months.
The current party-wise strength in the 78 member Legislative Council is as follows: NCP 23, Congress 19, BJP 17, Sena 9, JD-U 1, PWP-I 1, PRP 1, Independents 6 and vacant 1.

The current party-wise strength in the 288 member Legislative Assembly is as follows: BJP 122, Sena 63, Congress 42, NCP 41, PWP-I 3, BVA 3, MIM 2, MNS 1, Samajwadi Party 1, BBM 1, CPI-M 1, RSP 1, Independents 7 and Nominated 1 (vacant).