Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to mark his debut as a legislator, and it will also be interesting to see if there will be a contest for nine seats which are up for grabs. Efforts are on to ensure nominees for the nine vacancies are elected unopposed, a Congress leader said. But, if the situation of a contest arises, all the 288 MLAs, who form the electoral college for the Council polls, will have to come to Mumbai to cast their vote. If the lockdown is extended beyond May 17, it could be difficult for MLAs to travel to Mumbai. The Congress is apparent to contest two seats for the Maharashtra legislative council poll slated for May 21. Congress announced from Delhi the nomination of Rajesh Rathod for the council election, the state leaders, headed by the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, decided to field Papa Modi, who is the Beed District Congress Committee chief, as the second nominee.
Shiv Sena, with 56 legislators, is set to nominate Thackeray and legislative council deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 105 legislators has already announced four candidates. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), with 54 legislators, will contest two seats and has nominated Shashikant Shinde and Amol Mitkari. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released the list of four candidates for the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections scheduled to be held on May 21. The party has fielded Pravin Datke (Nagpur city BJP chief), Gopichand Padalkar, Ajit Gopchade, and Ranjit Singh Mohite Patil.
The polling will be held on May 21 to fill the 9 vacant seats. These seats fell vacant on April 24 and the elections were withheld due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, the poll panel had last week granted permission for holding elections to the Legislative Council in Maharashtra and stated that necessary guidelines will need to be ensured for safety against COVID-19 during the elections. The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has finalised candidatures of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and senior leader Neelam Gorhe for the May 21 MLC polls. Gorhe is the sitting deputy chairman of the Legislative Council.
It will be known only on the last day of withdrawal on May 14 whether the nine will get unopposed or voting is needed on May 21.
