Council polls set for a contest as Sena UBT fields Milind Narvekar as 12th candidate

Of the 11 MLCs retiring on July 27, four belong to the BJP, two to Congress while NCP, SS, SS-UBT, Peasants and Workers Party and Rashtriya Samaj Party have one MLC each.

Milind Narvekar, Maharashtra Legislative Council election, Shiv Sena UBT, BJP candidates, Pankaja Munde, Parinay Phuke, Yogesh Tilekar, Amit Gorkhe, Sadabhau Khot, NCP candidates, Rajesh Vitekar, Shivajirao Garje, Shiv Sena candidates, Bhawna Gavli, Krupal Tumane, Congress candidate, Pradnya Satav, Peasants and Workers Party, Jayant Patil, MLC election, Maharashtra politics

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Milind Narvekar (X@@NarvekarMilind_)

The biennial election for 11 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council is set to witness a show of strength as Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Milind Narvekar on Tuesday filed the nomination, becoming the 12th candidate in the fray.

Two independents have also filed their nominations but their candidatures are likely to be rejected during scrutiny.

The BJP has declared the names of five candidates. Party national secretary Pankaja Munde made it to the list of five candidates announced by the central leadership for the state legislative council elections to be held on July 12. The other four candidates are Parinay Phuke, Yogesh Tilekar, Amit Gorkhe and Sadabhau Khot.

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The ruling NCP has given tickets to Rajesh Vitekar and Shivajirao Garje, while ruling Shiv Sena has nominated former MP Bhawna Gavli and Krupal Tumane. The Congress has renominated Pradnya Satav, while Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) MLC Jayant Patil has also filed his nomination from the opposition.

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Of the 11 MLCs retiring on July 27, four belong to the BJP, two to Congress while NCP, SS, SS-UBT, Peasants and Workers Party and Rashtriya Samaj Party have one MLC each. The election of these 11 MLCs will be through a secret ballot from the MLAs. With the strength of the Assembly reduced to 274 from 288 — for reasons such as MLAs getting elected to Lok Sabha, death and suspension — the ruling coalition will be on its toes to keep its MLAs together.

In the event of voting — if more than 11 nominations are filed — the MLCs will get elected through a preferential voting system. The winning candidate would require 23 votes of first preference to get elected. Based on the strength of each party, the ruling alliance may win nine seats while the opposition looks comforatable in securing two seats.

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