The Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday said it would field senior leader Praful Patel for the upcoming election to the Rajya Sabha, even though he is already a member of the Upper House. The party's Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare said Patel was fielded despite four years of his Rajya Sabha tenure remaining owing to "technical issues". "Patel will file nomination papers tomorrow afternoon," he said without elaborating on the exact reasons for the decision or the "technical issues". Patel will resign from his House membership after getting elected and take a fresh oath. Patel was elected to Rajya Sabha in June 2022 and would have had a term until 2028. The decision comes days after the Election Commission recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real NCP. Further, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision on disqualification petitions filed by warring NCP camps after Ajit Pawar split the Sharad Pawar-led party last year is due on Thursday. The announcement comes the same dayon which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena fielded Milind Deora for the elections. Meanwhile, the BJP fielded newly-inducted Ashok Chavan, apart from Medha Kulkarni and Ajit Gopchade. Both Chavan and Deora over the last one month quit the Congress, ending their families' decades-long association with the party, and joined the BJP and Shinde Sena respectively. With inputs from PTI
