Legislative council polls set to be unopposed as Congress backs out; NCP fields Zeeshan Siddique

The party announced its decision after a meeting with senior Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) leaders on Thursday

MUMBAI: Candidates contesting the biennial elections for nine seats, and one by-election, in the state legislative council are set to be elected unopposed as only ten candidates from the main political parties filed their nominations until Thursday, the last day for filing nominations.

Mumbai, India – 30 April 2026: BJP candidates Sunil Karjatkar, Madhavi Naik, Sanjay Bhende, Vivek Kolhe, and Pramod Jathar comes out after the filed their nomination form for the MLC election at Vidhan Bhavan, in the presence of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, BJP State president Ravindra Chavan, and other BJP leaders, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, 30 April 2026. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

This became possible after the Congress decided not to contest the election. The party announced its decision after a meeting with senior Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) leaders on Thursday.

Like the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena too chose not to field an extra candidate for the polls. In the Mahayuti coalition, the BJP has fielded six, the Shiv Sena two (Bacchu Kadu and Neelam Gorhe), and the NCP one (Zeeshan Siddique). From the opposition, which is contesting only one seat, the Sena (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve has been nominated, turning it into a no-contest.

Of the ten seats, nine are due for biennial elections as sitting members retire on May 13. The tenth seat fell vacant after Congress MLC Pradnya Satav resigned and joined the BJP in December last year. She is one of the BJP’s candidates in the fray.

HT graphic

The drama between the Congress and Sena (UBT) unfolded on Wednesday, when the Congress realised the Sena (UBT) was not fielding party chief Uddhav Thackeray. The Congress had said it would not nominate a candidate of its own if the Sena (UBT)’s candidate was Thackeray, not anyone else.

Danve’s candidature therefore caught the Congress off-guard. Miffed, the party said it would now contest, although the MVA had only one seat between them and the Sena (UBT) had the numbers to get Danve elected. On Thursday, however, the Congress backed down, but not before discussing a compromise with its allies.

After the Congress met early on Thursday, a delegation of four senior Sena (UBT) leaders including Danve, Anil Desai, Anil Parab, and Milind Narvekar, reached the Congress office at Colaba, to resolve the dispute.

State party president Harshwardhan Sapkal told them this was no way to lead a three-party coalition. “He also said the Sena (UBT) must either relinquish its claim to one Rajya Sabha seat or one of the two legislative council seats that will fall vacant by 2028,” said a senior Congress leader. After initial reluctance, the Sena (UBT) said it would consider the demand.

While declaring his party’s support to Danve as the MVA candidate, Sapkal said, “There was a lack of communication, and today we spoke for two and a half to three hours. It was decided that the Congress will take primary responsibility for (MVA) representation in the coming round of elections.”

He underlined that the Congress had also extended its support to NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s candidature in the recent Rajya Sabha elections. Basically, he was reminding allies that his party was the only one following coalition ethics.

After submitting his nomination on Thursday, Danve said, “It has been decided that party chief Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala will meet soon and decide on the Congress’s demand.”

NCP nominates Zeeshan Siddique

Former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, son of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique, filed his nomination as the NCP candidate for the legislative council poll on Thursday. Zeeshan joined the NCP along with his father but lost the assembly elections from Vandre East constituency in November 2024.

According to NCP insiders, late NCP president Ajit Pawar had promised to rehabilitate Zeeshan after his defeat. “This is why most senior leaders were positive about is candidature,” said a senior NCP leader.

“Two days ago, Zeeshan met party chief Sunetra Pawar along with his mother Shehzeen Siddique with a request to consider his name for the position,” said an NCP leader.