Maha council bypoll: BJP nominee may get elected unopposed

BJP's Sangli district unit president Prithviraj Deshmukh is likely to get elected unopposed to the Maharashtra Legislative Council in the upcoming byelection.

The bypoll, to be held on June 7, became necessary due to the death of veteran Congress leader from Sangli district, Shivajirao Deshmukh, early this year.

The Congress is unlikely to field any nominee as the BJP enjoys a comfortable majority in the Legislative Assembly whose members elect representatives to the Upper House.

"Whoever wins this election, he will be a member of the Upper House only for one year. There will be a fresh election for that seat as its tenure completes early next year," a Vidhan Bhavan official said Monday.

In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP has 122 MLAs, the Shiv Sena 63, the Congress 42 and the NCP 41.

Prithviraj Deshmukh had won a bypoll to the state Legislative Assembly by defeating senior Congress leader Patangrao Kadam in 1997. He was with the NCP before joining the BJP in 2014.