Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is set to enter the legislative council unopposed as the Congress on Sunday, 10 May, announced that it would withdraw one of its two candidates for the 21 May elections to nine seats.
The Maharashtra Congress said it has decided to withdraw the nomination of Raj Kishor Modi for polls to the State Legislative Council, reported PTI.
“We have decided to field only one out of two nominees for the MLC elections, which means the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) will have five nominees for as many seats (out of the total nine).”State Congress president Balasaheb Thorat
The BJP, on the other hand, has fielded four candidates. Thackeray, who is not a member of either Houses of the state legislature, is one of the nominees for the elections as terms of the sitting MLCs ended on 24 April.
According to Hindustan Times, Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had said that Uddhav Thackeray was not willing to fight the legislative council polls unless elected unopposed.
Raut further said said that the Shiv Sena chief had sent a message to Balasaheb Thorat to withdraw the party’s second candidate.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 1 May had granted permission for holding elections to the Legislative Council (MLCs) in Maharashtra on 21 May, which will pave way for CM Uddhav Thackeray to become a member of the Legislative Council.
The necessary guidelines will need to be ensured for safety against COVID-19 during the elections, the EC had said.
The EC announcement came just days after Thackeray reportedly spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on phone and told him that attempts were being made to create political instability in the state.
(With inputs from PTI, Hindustan Times)
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