Shiv Sena likely to retain MP for Rajya Sabha

Mumbai:  With six Rajya Sabha seats from the state and 58 seats in total set to be vacated in April, the Shiv Sena is likely to repeat its MP Anil Desai for the same post. He is due to retire in April but the Sena has sufficient MLAs to re-elect Mr Desai to the Rajya Sabha. 

The Election Commission (EC) on Friday announced polls for 58 Rajya Sabha seats from 16 states, which are falling vacant on April 2. The voting from among the MLAs will take place on March 23, the EC said. In Maharashtra, the tenure of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP’s Vandana Chavan and D.P. Tripathi, Congress’s  Rajeev Shukla and Rajani Patil, Shiv Sena’s Desai and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ajay Sancheti will get over. 

Sources in the Sena confirmed that Mr Desai will be its candidate. “Mr Desai is an old hand and he has done a decent job during his tenure. He will be repeated for the same post,” the source said. Mr Desai is also close to party chief Uddhav Thackeray and has a clean, sober image, which is an advantage for the party. Sources said that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would make the official announcement soon. Mr Thackeray has convened a meeting of party MLAs on February 26 when the announcement is expected. 

As per the current strength of political parties in the legislative assembly, one seat of Shiv Sena can easily get elected.

The Sena has 63 MLAs in the house. Depending on the vote quota, the Sena will have extra votes. On the other hand, one MP each from the Congress and the NCP can get elected while the BJP can try for three with the help of Sena’s extra votes.