Mahayuti finalises nominees for legislative council

Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti proposes seven names for the legislative council from the Governor's quota ahead of upcoming Assembly elections.

Mumbai: As the code of conduct for the Assembly election in Maharashtra is set to be announced anytime soon, the ruling Mahayuti has proposed the nomination of seven names to the legislative council from the Governor quota. Bharatiya Janata Party, the largest among the three ruling constituents, has proposed three names, while Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party have proposed two names each.

Mahayuti finalises nominees for legislative council

BJP has proposed the nomination of Chitra Wagh, its women’s wing chief, Banjara community priest Babusinh Rathod and its youth-wing chief Vikrant Patil for the nomination. NCP has proposed the name of former Sangli mayor Idris Naikwadi, a Muslim face of the party, along with its senior leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s son Pankaj for the nomination to the upper house. Shinde Sena had proposed its former Hingoli MP Hemant Patil and former MLC Manisha Kayande for the nomination to the council.

The list, after the nod from the state cabinet on Monday, has been sent to Governor CP Radhakrishnan for the final nod. The upper house has a quota of 12 seats to be filled from the Governor quota, however, the infighting among the ruling allies reportedly led to fewer names proposed for the seats. The governor quota seats have been vacant since June 2020 as former Governor BS Koshyari refused to clear the names proposed by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in 2020.