Five candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), were on Tuesday elected unopposed to the Maharashtra Legislative Council after the opposition parties failed to field candidates for the March 27 bypolls to the Upper House, news agency PTI reported.
Sandeep Joshi, Sanjay Kenekar, and Dadarao Keche from BJP, Chandrakant Raghuvanshi from the Shiv Sena, and Sanjay Khodke from NCP were elected unopposed, as no opposition candidates filed nominations by the deadline.
This marks the unique occasion where a husband-and-wife duo will simultaneously serve in two Houses of the state legislature, PTI reported. Sulabha Khodke is an NCP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Amravati Assembly constituency, while her husband, Sanjay, has now become a member of the Upper House.
Five seats in the legislative council became vacant after sitting members won the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections on November 23. Outgoing members included Shiv Sena`s Amasha Padavi, NCP`s Rajesh Witekar, and BJP`s Pravin Datke, Gopichand Padalkar, and Ramesh Karad.
Meanwhile, an Independent candidate, Umesh Mhetre from Daund in Pune district, had filed his nomination but failed to secure the mandatory endorsement of 10 MLAs. With opposition parties lacking the numbers to contest, the election of the ruling alliance`s candidates was seen as a formality.
Two former MLAs join Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena
Former MLAs Sanjay Kadam and Bhausaheb Patil Chikatgaonkar joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday.
Kadam, a former MLA from Dapoli, had unsuccessfully contested against Shiv Sena minister Yogesh Kadam in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections. Kadam’s defection to the Shinde-led faction is considered a setback for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the Konkan region, especially after former MLA Rajan Salvi had switched to the Shinde camp earlier this year.
Shinde asserted confidence that the Dapoli Constituency would develop rapidly with both the Kadams now in the Shiv Sena fold.
Chikatgaonkar had previously represented Vaijapur as an MLA of the undivided NCP.
Speaking after the event where the two former MLAs joined the party, Shinde also stated that Maharashtra would never forgive those who glorify Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Former Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) corporators Anjali Naik, Umesh Mane, and Lochana Chavan also joined the Sena during the occasion.
“Their entry will strengthen the Shiv Sena organisation in Mumbai,” Shinde added.
(With PTI inputs)
