Tawde, Athawale among 4 BJP nominees for Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra

The BJP on Wednesday announced four candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra, nominating Union minister Ramdas Athawale and former state minister Vinod Tawde, among others, for the Upper House.

Besides Athawale and Tawde, the party has also fielded Maya Chintaman Ivnate and Ramrao Wadkute for the biennial elections.

Seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra are set to fall vacant in April. With over 230 MLAs in the 288-member assembly, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is in a position to ensure the election of all its four nominees.

The Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra retiring this year include NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Athawale, who heads RPI (A), Fauzia Khan of NCP (SP), Rajni Patil (Congress), Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), and BJP leaders Dhananjay Patil and Bhagwat Karad.

 

Polling will be held on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, with counting scheduled to commence at 5 pm the same day.

The Election Commission of India has announced elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states. Of these seats, 12 are currently held by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while 25 are with opposition parties.