Eight nominations filed for seven RS seats from Maharashtra

Eight nominations have been filed for seven seats of the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra as of Friday, the last day of filing papers, an official said here.

Those in the fray include sitting Rajya Sabha members NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Union minister and NDA ally Ramdas Athawale.

Returning officer Vilas Athavale said aneighth nomination did not have mandatory affidavit or proposer and the person did not even pay the security deposit. The decision on its validity will be taken during the scrutiny of papers on Monday, he said, refusing to divulge the candidate's name.

Congress general secretary Rajiv Satav, Shiv Sena deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, former NCP minister Fauzia Khan and BJP's Bhagwat Karad on Friday filed their nomination papers.

NCP president Pawar, RPI chief Athawale and BJP's Udayanraje Bhosale had filed papers earlier for the March 26 polls.

Karad, former mayor of Aurangabad, was accompanied by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil and former state minister Pankaja Munde.

"We are happy that a true worker (Karad) has filed nomination. All our three candidates are good... There are signs that the election will be unopposed," Munde told reporters outside the state legislature.

Ruling alliance members Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP can comfortably win a seat each as 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.