NCP will survey all 288 seats and contest within Mahayuti alliance: Ajit Pawar

The deputy CM also said that all three parties will sit together with their respective surveys and finalise the seat-sharing formula.

Commenting on a range of political and social issues prevailing in the state, Pawar said that almost after a gap of four years, the Maharashtra government is expected to appoint 12 persons from the governor’s quota as members in the state legislative council.

The posts of 12 MLCs have been vacant for more than four years. On November 6, 2020, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government approved a list of 12 candidates and later shared it with the governor for approval.

However, then-governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who was removed from the post in February 2021 following a string of controversies, did not approve the list till his term ended. Ramesh Bais succeeded Koshyari but he also did not take any decision because of an ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court.

“Once the Maharashtra cabinet clears the proposal of 12 names to be appointed as MLC from the governor’s quota, it will get accepted soon,” Pawar said.

Another pending matter in the state legislature is the vacant seat of chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar retired as the chairman of the Council on July 7, 2022. Since then the post is vacant and deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe has been presiding over the daily business of the house when it is in motion.

The opposition parties in the Council have also raised the issue in the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislature and demanded filling the post of chairman of the Council.

The state government is also keen on filling the seat of the Council chairman but it will be done only after the appointment of 12 members in the upper house, said Pawar, adding the name of the chairperson will be finalised soon.