Sharad Pawar Opposition's Pick For Its Lone Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Seat

Veteran political leader Sharad Pawar will be Maharashtra opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's candidate for the Rajya Sabha election. His Nationalist Congress Party made the announcement this evening along with the state Congress, in a hint that the opposition bloc has opted to retain its unity. 

"Yesterday Jayant Patil and I met Uddhav Thackeray and discussed it. NCP(SP) wants to thank the Congress and Shiv Sena(UBT) for extending their support to Sharad Pawar," said NCP leader and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.

"We had discussions with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. The Congress had decided to support Sharad Pawar for Rajya Sabha," said sate Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, who addressed the press conference along with Sule.

The opposition bloc has been on the brink of rift for days over the Rajya Sabha seat, which Shiv Sena UBT wanted for Priyanka Chaturvedi. The party also wants Uddhav Thackeray to be part of the Upper House. That set up potential conflict with Sharad Paar, who is also the interlocutor of the opposition bloc.

Pawar, who earlier said he would hang up his boots and not contest Rajya Sabha elections again, did a U-turn after the death of his nephew, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar last month. 

His death had upset the NCP's merger plans. The merger was to be announced on February 12. But after Ajit Pawar's death on January 28, the plan fell though when the Mahayuti placed his wife Sunetra Pawar in the vacant seat.

Within days, Sharad Pawar's leaders declared that he is interested in contesting the Rajya Sabha election. 

There, however, was no prompt response from the allies. The Congress said the decision should be taken after discussions within the MVA.

Shiv Sena leaders flatly said they had given up their claim once earlier for Sharad Pawar and they expect a return of the favour. 

There are 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly, of which the BJP has 131 seats, Shiv Sena Shinde has 57, and NCP Ajit Pawar has 40 MLAs. Thirty-seven votes are required for one Rajya Sabha seat. 

With 20 MLAs of Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray faction, 16 of Congress and 10 of NCP Sharad Pawar, the MVA can only get one of its candidates elected.