Mumbai, March 4 – NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) Working President and MP Supriya Sule thanked the leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Wednesday for extending their support to party chief Sharad Pawar, who will contest the Rajya Sabha election from Maharashtra. The polling is scheduled for March 16, while the last date for filing nominations is March 5.
After attending the press conference addressed by state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, who announced the party’s support to Sharad Pawar, Sule expressed her gratitude in a post on X.
“Respected Pawar Saheb is contesting the Rajya Sabha election as the candidate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Maha Vikas Aghadi and allied parties have expressed their consent and extended support to Respected Pawar Saheb's candidature -- for this, heartfelt thanks to Soniaji Gandhi, Mallikarjunji Kharge, Uddhavji Thackeray, Rahulji Gandhi, Adityaji Thackeray, Priyankaji Gandhi, Sanjayji Raut, KC Venugopalji, Ramesh Chennithalaji, and State President Harshvardhanji Sapkal,” she wrote.
Incidentally, the Shiv Sena (UBT) was conspicuous by its absence at the press conference. However, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in a post on X, said: “The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) remains united, confirming Sharad Pawar as the MVA's Rajya Sabha candidate.”
Both the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) had earlier staked claim to the Rajya Sabha seat. However, the state Congress leadership left the final decision to the party high command.
The dispute intensified after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray recently argued that since his party has the highest number of MLAs among the MVA allies, the seat should be allotted to it.
However, Supriya Sule and senior NCP (SP) legislator Jayant Patil met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and requested the party’s support for Sharad Pawar’s candidature.
Sharad Pawar is unlikely to face difficulty in winning the election given the numerical strength of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state Assembly.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has 46 MLAs -- Shiv Sena (UBT) 20, Congress 16 and NCP (SP) 10 -- and can therefore win one seat.
On the other hand, the ruling Mahayuti alliance has 233 members -- 131 from the Bharatiya Janata Party, 57 from the Shiv Sena and 40 from the NCP -- and is likely to win six seats, with the support of nine smaller parties and independents.
The NCP has already declared the nomination of Parth Pawar, son of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, while the Shiv Sena is expected to announce its candidate either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
The BJP has nominated Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, party General Secretary Vinod Tawde, Maya Chintaman Ivnate, a tribal leader and former mayor of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, and Ramrao Wadkute from the Dhangar community in Hingoli district.
With Sharad Pawar’s election to the Rajya Sabha, members of the Pawar family will hold five positions across Parliament and the Maharashtra Assembly.
Apart from Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha, his daughter Supriya Sule represents Baramati in the Lok Sabha, while Parth Pawar will also enter the Rajya Sabha.
Parth Pawar's mother and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is expected to resign from the Rajya Sabha and contest the Baramati Assembly by-election.
Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew Rohit Pawar is an MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed Assembly constituency.