Congress backs Sharad Pawar for Rajya Sabha, MVA closes ranks in Maharashtra | India News
New Delhi: All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala has announced that the Congress will support NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar as the unanimous candidate for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra.This comes as talks intensify ahead of nominations for the March 16 polls, where seven seats from the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are up for grabs.The ruling Mahayuti alliance—BJP, Shinde Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP—could win six Rajya Sabha seats unopposed with about 232 MLAs.The opposition MVA (Shiv Sena-UBT: 20 MLAs, Congress: 16, NCP-SP: 10; total 46-47) is eyeing the remaining seats but needs at least 37 first preference votes from the 288-member assembly to secure it.Pawar, whose current term ends next month, has recently expressed interest in contesting again despite being hospitalised, prompting NCP (SP) leaders like Jayant Patil and Supriya Sul to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for talks.Chennithala’s statement did away with earlier tension, as Congress leaders, citing their 16 MLAs as the second-largest MVA bloc, claimed the alliance’s lone winnable Rajya Sabha seat – arguing that it followed rotation rules and was important to the Bharat bloc nationally.State Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal suggested a trade-off such as MVA support for Thackeray’s re-election to the Legislative Council, but Pawar’s push and Chennithala’s support signaled unity to avoid a contested vote that could jeopardize the seat.
